"People are watching this lunatic" Very scary

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017322.php

PEOPLE ARE WATCHING THIS LUNATIC.... Glenn Beck, Fox News' deranged media personality, has been telling a national television audience that the Obama administration might be setting up secret "concentration camps" to lock up conservatives. The president, Beck believes, may be using FEMA in this conspiratorial drive towards "a totalitarian state."

Beck, who has already voiced his affinity for the John Birch Society, is also distributing Birchers' literature to his audiences.

If he were just some random right-wing blogger, it would be easier to laugh this off. If he were just some strange man screaming on a street corner, social service agencies might be called in to help the guy out. But instead, people are listening to this nut.

In fact, Beck has been dominating cable news recently. According to TVNewser's charts of Nielsen ratings, out of all the cable news networks, his Fox show has consistently placed second in the key demographic of viewers aged 25 to 54 over the past couple weeks, beating even Sean Hannity's and trailing only "The O'Reilly Factor." When it comes to total viewers, too, Beck's been cleaning up, generally placing third, just behind Hannity.

But Beck got his biggest audience numbers yet for a special he hosted on Friday, a special so ludicrous and over-hyped that Fox's own Shep Smith couldn't help but have a little fun at his colleague's expense.

But it paid off: That one episode of Beck's program got the highest ratings in the key demographic for the entire month of March so far. In total, TVNewser reports, "There were more viewers watching Beck's 5pm show than watched the entire prime time (8-11pm) lineups on CNN and MSNBC."

Kevin Drum argued the other day, "It's more and more obvious that Glenn Beck has decided that becoming a male Ann Coulter is good for his ratings. So his show is now dedicated to saying increasingly outrageous things solely in an attempt to get liberals to denounce him and drive his ratings yet higher. Conclusion: it's time to start ignoring him, right?"

Maybe, but I'm not sure. Beck, far more than Coulter, seems to believe what he's saying. Coulter craves controversy -- she's a clown pretending to be a provocateur -- but Beck literally seems mad. He sees bizarre and elaborate conspiracies, and worse, seems to perceive himself as the leader of an unstable movement.

Coulter is harmless. Is Beck?

-Steve Benen

[Mari333]

1. Michael Savage has been saying it also

another reason the guns and ammo crowd are stocking up. heh.

[cabluedem]

49. I hope Micheal "I hope they get raped & thrown in a dumpster" Savage is incarcerated in one. These .

kooks need to learn a lesson in what hate speech does. Sooner or later this incites riots or worse.

[tekisui]

2. The real concern over his lunacy is a "lone wolf".

Most of those watching him are paranoid old racists who are afraid to leave the house, or people who love to watch a train wreck.

The worry is the handful of "lone wolf" nuts who are starting to "follow" him, and think he is some sort of spiritual leader. The cues he is sending could be very dangerous if those nuts decide to act.

[babylonsister]

14. Yea, but...

"There were more viewers watching Beck's 5pm show than watched the entire prime time (8-11pm) lineups on CNN and MSNBC."

There must be lots of loonies out there. The above sentence chilled my bones.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Probably Not That Big A Number

And remember they said "key demographic", so they're impressed by a small segment of a small number.

It's not any near impressive, in absolute terms.
GAC

[dmr]

51. "Insane ramblings of a syphilitic brain" per Colbert

I question his ratings. I don't believe it. I wonder how many briefly tuned in out of car-wreck or repulsed curiosity. I didn't. Shoot, I barely got through a few minutes of video that was posted here.

I did watch Colbert's 'Doom Bunker', though - twice! Colbert's a genius.

Beck is insane and Fox is dangerously irresponsible. Those who buy into this bullshit, are no better.

This just adds to my worries for the safety of President Obama.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

3. He'll probably self-destruct.

He'll keep on going further and further out on a limb until it snaps beneath him. Or he spends most of his show screaming racial slurs at the camera and talking about how the Illuminati are preventing him from uncovering "The Truth". I'm pretty sure not even Fox would put up with that for more than three or four shows.

[lynnertic]

13. Wow-he says 'illuminati' on TV?

i'm glad i only have basic cable.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

15. I don't think he does, but judging from how he talks, he's heading down that path. nt

[starroute]

47. Beck has talked about the "New World Order"

Apparently he was ranting about it back last October when he was still on Headline News.

There's video available here and there online -- here's one blogger who thinks "Glenn is right" (http://www.politicalcoffeehouse.com/2008/10/glenn-beck-new-world-order.html), and here's Kurt Nimmo at Infowars, who's deeply suspicious and thinks Beck is actually a puppet of David Rockefeller being used to get people comfortable with the idea of world domination (http://www.infowars.com/glenn-becks-new-world-order-diatribe/).

(Mods -- is there a problem with linking to Infowars? I'm citing it as part of the batshit-crazy alert squad and not for informational purposes, so please allow it to stay.)

[newtothegame]

42. What show have you seen?

The guy is an idiot but I've never seen him say any racial slurs on the show, or even scream for that matter. Perhaps his VIEWS are racist, but this post seems a bit misleading and sensationalist.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

44. A man that angry and unstable can't keep it all inside forever.

It'll slip out eventually, and while my post is hyperbole the point remains.

[newtothegame]

45. Ah, I reread your post. Gotcha. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

4. i still don't know what CNN was thinking in hiring him...

in the very near future he's gonna get that network in hot water...

[babylonsister]

9. He's not on cnn any longer, he's on faux, so he can spew

all night long, and won't get so much as his hand slapped.

[BlooInBloo]

5. I wonder if his audience really IS national, in practical terms....

I'd like to see a ratings breakdown of his show by state (better: by county).

[bdamomma]

6. what total BS these people spew.

lock up conservatives???? that is really sick but then again, they would like to lock up us liberals too.

[FatDave]

50. Seems like a lot of times, they accuse us of exactly what they're doiing.

Not saying this is a case of that, just that a lot of times if you want to know what the right's up to, look to what they're accusing the left of.

[saltpoint]

7. Recommended.

Beck's been at it a while, too, which is disturbing.

I remember him a ways back from his days on the air in Florida.

He's coast-to-coast now. And more dangerous.

[Mist]

8. This is a pre-emptive mentioning of the FEMA camps that were being built during

the Bush/Cheney administration. Another way of trying to push the misdeeds of the Bush/Cheney admin. onto the Obama admin.

[Octafish]

10. Bingo.

Halliburton holds the contract on the things, too, meaning Cheney made a buck.

[babylonsister]

12. I remember our horror when we heard about these camps.

Then, when those memos leaked out recently, it all made sense. So now Beck is using them for his own evil ends. If only there was a legitimate discussion of those camps on his show, but I trust that will never happen.

[Incitatus]

17. Actually, it was started by Reagan in 1984

In April 1984, President Reagan signed Presidential Directorate Number 54 that allowed FEMA to engage in a secret national "readiness exercise" under the code name of REX 84. The exercise was to test FEMA's readiness to assume military authority in the event of a "State of Domestic National Emergency" concurrent with the launching of a direct United States military operation in Central America. The plan called for the deputation of U.S. military and National Guard units so that they could legally be used for domestic law enforcement. These units would be assigned to conduct sweeps and take into custody an estimated 400,000 undocumented Central American immigrants in the United States. The immigrants would be interned at 10 detention centers to be set up at military bases throughout the country.

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~lf14/conspire/rex84.html

[Echo In Light]

30. Likewise the blueprint for other police state aspects of the phony "war on (OF) terror"

It's been in the works with plenty of recurring names and faces.

[Echo In Light]

29. Exactly. Yet further psych-projection from the Right: impute to others that which YOU are guilty of

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. If the FEMA concentration camps are being built for the likes of him...

then I will stop worrying about the camps.
Jeez..I thought they were being built for US....

such a relief.....

.:rofl:

[Rockholm]

16. Could this be sedition? Me thinks yes.

[Myrina]

18. Oh, we WISH.

It would be so nice to be rid of the GOP idiocy that runs through the general population.
We could go visit them, like a zoo, when we wanted to be reminded why we locked them up in the first place.

[Arugula Latte]

25. There was a funny thread awhile ago where a DUer posted a Free Republic thread

wherein a Freeper worried we'd turn them all into soap. Then we all chimed in with what type of soap we'd make out of Freeps.

[EstimatedProphet]

33. How can you make soap out of filth?

[dkofos]

19. Where is John Lee Malvo when you really need him.

[TBF]

20. Maybe we could get him on Jon Stewart's show. n/t

[librechik]

21. He's the Howard Beal of our age

CNN must be hoping he'll go into a fit and kill himself on live TV. That's the plot.

[babylonsister]

22. Funny you say that. Jon Stewart was compared to Howard

Beal last week after his skewering of Cramer. And I don't think he works for cnn anymore, but faux.

[rrneck]

23. These cranks bread and butter

is right wing political extremeism. Like a comedian who has to constantly raise the shock value of his material (I'm looking at you Diceman) for it to work, they just keep feeding on the irrational beliefs of all the ignorant listeners they created.

Unfortunately, as Danny Devito said in Other People's Money, they're fighting for, "a growing share of a a shrinking market".

[newspeak]

27. these can be very dangerous people, however.

Causing fear and paranoia in people who already are delusional. Pandering to their listener's racism and paranoia. Reminds me of Julius Steicher (sp) who whipped the german population up against jews, homosexuals, gypsies and other so-called undesirables. These sociopathic fire breathers are given access to the public airwaves--this is a major network giving access to those who are whipping up hysteria-seems to me calling for sedition. We know what happened to Steicher-Nuremberg. The whole network should be held accountable if anything happens because of the rantings of these very psychotic shiteheads.

[rrneck]

39. I agree. They can be just as

dangerous as they are designed to be. If we suffer a really serious economic, environmental, or cultural shock, (as if current events weren't bad enough) they could start to make sense to the balance of people, then we will be up fascist creek without a democratic paddle.

Movie scenes keep popping into my head lately, but I was thinking of Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction:

There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you. I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be a shepherd.

We dodged six bullets from a goddamned hand cannon last November, I hope we will learn from the experience.

In our case of course, lets not give that nimrod (AIG) fifteen hundred dollars for trying to rob us.

[WI_DEM]

26. Yes, Glenn and you're the first one who will be locked up.

[Serial Mom]

28. I removed a friend from Facebook because she joined his Fan Club!

I worked with her for a short while, but is a fundie in all categories - political, religious, social and emotional! I just couldn't remain friends with somebody who loves beck and cannot think for herself to find out that almost everything he says/claims is a LIE and has been proven to be such!!

[babylonsister]

31. Good on ya, Serial Mom. I would have done likewise but

I've pretty much banished most of the r/wers from my life if I know who they are. Not enough time in the day to try to reason with them, and it will never happen anyway.

[Carni]

40. Well I follow people on Twitter that I don't agree with

I hope people aren't assuming that I AGREE with everyone I follow on these various networking sites...I just like to follow their remarks and respond. I also follow people I agree with in media -- I will say I would NOT follow Beck for any reason.

[Lost in CT]

32. He remionds me of Robert Downey Jr... The smoker not the actor. nt

[newspeak]

35. back in the seventies my boss took me to a book store at lunch time

Every book I took from the shelf was political and I thought, this is bullshit. He asked me what I thought of the books and I responded that the books seemed crazy. He laughed and told me it was a John Birch Society book store. Now, I remember one of the books I leafed through stated that religions can manipulate the people into believing in a social form of justice, thus being a stage for the dreaded "Communism." So the only good people who can't be manipulated, I guess, are those who are wealthy. :shrug:

[Lost in CT]

52. Clearwater Fl has those but they are nothing but Scientology books... spooky.

[TahitiNut]

34. Conservatives can believe it because, in their heart of hearts, they KNOW they deserve it.

:shrug:

[K8-EEE]

36. It's the same nuts with the adorable "Club Gitmo" T-shirts who

Feel like somebody is going to do to them what they have sick fantasies about doing to others.

Frankly I feel like what he was attempting (basically, we don't like the election results let's take to the streets and overturn them) WAS scary, but it was so, so lame, and such a failure, even the Freepers aren't really buying it much, I feel ridicule is well-deserved and the proper response.

[Echo In Light]

38. Especially odd once you consider ....

The very real possibility that these fascist pundits are likely aware of how The Shadow interests that actually run this country had every interest and intention of installing the 'friendlier' version of American governance after getting away with all they did for the past eight yrs.

In other words, these jerk-offs on TV ranting and raving about the Obama admin's move toward detainment camps and such is pure poison jive, and they know it i.e. actors and liars, as are politicians

[ddeclue]

37. CEBK= Close Encounters of the Beck Kind - Glenn Beck is NOT Alone..

:rofl:

[Beam Me Up]

41. I thought it was Halliburton building the camps. n/t

[BurtWorm]

43. Is it possible wingers are just fascinated by what a train wreck Beck is.

He's just a ridiculous person. Even Fox anchors laugh at him. One was making fun of his insane weeping fit. (I only know this because I saw Stewart's Moment of Zen last night.)

[anonymous171]

46. Modern Day Father Coughlin. nt

[lib_wit_it]

48. Beck is pathetic, but that doesn't mean the RWers won't worship him.

[Xenotime]

53. What's wrong with locking up RW pugs? Sounds like a good idea.