Posted on 09/16/2010 7:56:32 PM PDT by flowerplough
Glenn Beck is no stranger to public criticism. Usually, that criticism comes from entrenched critics. But today, Beck was chided by some of his most loyal fans. What’s got everyone so upset?
Beck’s stance on playing dress-up.
Recently, Beck started imploring Tea Party supporters to lose the costumes, and homemade signs, so as not to give detractors ammunition. ( ... )
He repeated the charge on this morning’s radio show, taking umbrage with one costume in particular: “What’s more effective, you as Betsy Ross or you as somebody who looks just like their neighbor, not dressed as Betsy Ross?”
( ... )
“I‘m not saying you can’t go dressed as Betsy Ross or the Statue of Liberty –that would be a totalitarian state … [But] if you want to truly make a difference, it is now time that the Tea Party takes the next step. … And first impressions make all the difference.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
:^)
I have strived for years to join with Glen Beck. Originally he was just a pompous asshole, then he got sober and reinvented himself tolerably well.
I know he is on the right side, that's not it. But there is something wrong with this guy, some loose wire sparking and smoking upstairs, and the above piece of buffoonery illustates it.
That’s different than telling people they shouldn’t wear costumes or carry signs. Folks should consider how their message is received, but don’t alienate protesters by putting them in a straitjacket of rigid behavior.
"I'm not with the Party of NO, I'm with the Party of HELL NO." and
"No matter what I write on this sign you will say it is Racist"
Signs are fun, but I really liked what I saw at Glen Becks rally, quiet and dignified. That is what we need to protray now, JMO
Do not want to give the EVIL MEDIA and Pelosieites more fodder for their evil rants.
There is something very scary about QUIET people. Let them WONDER what we are up to.
It has been said, you don't have to fear the YAPPERS, watch out for the quiet man, for he is the most dangerous. At this point, the news media can't figure us out, lol. They don't know who our leaders are (there are none), and it is driving them nuts, they are in FULL TILT PANIC MODE. Maybe time to use yet another tactic.
Having said all this, I am happy with whatever anyone wants to do to make know how they feel. This is still our Country and Freedom is still alive.
I once had a girlfriend that dumped me because my attire was distinctly Wal Mart and hers was strictly Dillards. Did you ever have a friend that tried to correct you, and when you did not change that friend abandonned you? Has anyone ever told you that you were just too weird to hang out with? That experience sounds much like what is happening here.
The Tea partiers should stick with what the have been doing. People are attracted to it because of its message of less government, less spending, less taxation, and more adherence to the Constitution. If the message becomes one of conformity then the movement is stepping toward the cliff. If people in costumes related to the history of this great country embarass you, or make you feel uncomfortable, perhaps it is you that has the problem.
You wouldn’t want any establishment types to see you hanging out with the strange folks, now would you?
It will get progressively easier with each cycle.
Going into this cycle, conservatives were demoralized, and like 2008, many races lacked any good candidates. This was particularly true of early contests.
But as the season went on, and the Tea Party became more organized and racked up more victories, conservatives began to believe more and more, culminating in the impossible happening in Delaware. Now the Tea Party is fully charged.
We’re going to take every ‘winnable’ race this November, and then some.
And this will motivate many quality conservatives to run in 2012.
We did have the element of surprise this season, sneaking up on the Establishment in what was to be a sleepy off year election.
2012 is going to be big time, and the remaining establishment will have their best show dogs on display.
But... we will have a lot more support inside the caucus as well, thanks to all the Tea Partiers we’re going to be sending to Washington in November.
2014 will be a cakewalk, since we will have taken over a majority of the party by then, have our people running state and local Republican parties, and probably have the RNC and NRSC under our control. The few remaining RINOs like Ms. Lindsay Graham will be surrounded, and will likely retire quietly without a fight.
Sorry, Kristinn. I don't want to be a wet blanket. As a mom of a teen, and have taken him to Tea Party events, he just sees these people as geeky. Believe me, I've told him they love this country and that's how they express it.
Maybe it's my fault. I've taken him along to counter protests in Minneapolis after 9/11 and we've been outnumbered 1000 to 10 and have been sworn at and our flag knocked to the ground.
Maybe because I went there every Wednesday for two years and I never said a word about it because it was just the right thing to do.
The Left called me a killer, told my son his mom loves to kill people, but I stood my ground. They went by in fairy costumes and other unmentionable stuff, but I stood my ground, by myself.
When a law school professor was tacking up "Just Peace" on every light poll on the neighborhood my throat was raw in a yelling match.
Sure, if someone wants to wear a costume, so be it. For me, it wasn't about fun. I lived the fight everyday.
That's what I want portrayed. Not some costume stuff.
The signs are part of the deal. I like the signs. I do think that people need to make sure that the sign they are carrying has no spelling errors.
There’s also an issue when a sign has something that can be interpreted as racist or plain crazy. Why? Because THAT’S the sign that gets the media coverage.
In my opinion, in this instance, Beck is just asking people to be aware.
I don’t know if people carried signs with misspellings during the civil rights movement in the 60’s. I don’t know if people dressed up.
The person dressed as Betsy Ross is the neighbor. Criticizing it from a forum such as Beck's is not a good idea and is not conducive to sustaining a grass roots movement. Momentum comes from passion, and such "costumes" are normal manifestations of that passion. When that disappears, so too will the passion that drives the momentum. Beck is wrong on this and he seriously needs to rethink his position.
Tea Party will accomplish nothing by themselves. Parading around with birds nests sewn to your hair mocks the entire cause.
INDEPENDENTS will decide this race and many others. They respect what the Tea Party stands for, SO FAR, but wear a live racoon on your head and you’ve lost the arguement, cuz they quit listening to you.
It's not an either or proposition and the media will never portray us in amicable terms. I would rather people put their passion to work as they see fit, then we will see what fruit that passion bears, and we will know who is amongst us.
I think Beck wants to cut out the messages, symbols,etc. that tie all these people together emotionally. I can’t go with him on this. At times I get the feeling Beck wants to be my controller even as he tells me to do my own thing. I listen to him most every day though because I believe he as much or more than anyone else gets me thinkig what a wonderful sociatall foundation we have been given.
Now, on Beck?
Show me a political campaign, or a political Party, that he has ever run.
Beck is great at investigative journalism and at uncovering the Left.
Beck is NOT so good at knowing what to do with that information.
Beck has never really pushed the idea of taking over the Republican Party.
Glad you asked.
Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis, by James Simpson
a.k.a., the Cloward-Piven strategy
James Simpson’s Original Cloward-Piven Article Series
To be truthful, Beck does not claim that he came up with the Cloward-Piven analysis of Barack Obama and the powers behind him. He does however, fail to give James Simpson due credit. It was Simpson, not Beck, who presented a thorough analysis and synthesis to any who were aware enough to read it.
It is not inaccurate to say that Beck owes Simpson a lot of credit indeed, for a portion of his current status (and income).
(David Horowitz' site wrote about Cloward-Piven, previously. Shortly before Simpson's article, Sept. 28 2008, James Walsh wrote very well about it, published in Newsmax, but it was not as expansively presented.)
Two days after Jim's article was published, he was being interviewed on AM radio in Chicago (after I sent the host, Sandy Rios, an email about it). His article was featured heavily in FreeRepublic.com, before the 2008 General Election. FReepers played a great part in circulating this critical information, before "Cloward-Piven" burst trippingly from the lips of the well placed entrepreneurial broadcaster and writer, Glenn Beck (March, 2009?).
FR Ping List for GulagBound.com, Investigating Obama, & "The Awakening"
Please reply or FReepmail, if you want on or off this list.
Please ask your candidates and politicians The Three Sovereignty Now Questions.
The tea Parters of old dressed up like Indians and did damage—like tossing tea in a harbor. We need to start organizing. We need to grow into something bigger and better. We need out own newspapers, Books, and songs. We need teachers and speech makers to give two minute talks on liberty and American Values. Beck likes to talk about the next George Washington—but what we need are new Ben Franklin’s and Thomas Paine’s. We need new protest songs—MLK had “we shall overcome”—we need a new song to inspire the masses. Becks new News blog site—the Blaze is a start but what we need is a newspaper—One of our own that will print the news of the right. If people nation wide subscribe—it will work. The Tea Party Gazette or the Freedom Call could be its name.
Sounds to me like to many of you are concerned about what MSM thinks about you. What have they ever done for you, but try and tear you down. This is a grass roots movement and seems some would try and stifle it. In February and early March of 2009 I attended the beginning of this movement in several areas. I saw young and old, disabled ,and of all races. They had made these signs in their basements and garages, and kitchen tables. They were Mad and wanted the World to know. Others have joined and are just as mad. Now you want them to clean their act up to please the establishment. This is sick ,how do you think we got their attention ,by wearing Suits ? I think not, let Americans be Americans in the way they are comfortable if you do not like it, then maybe your not really still mad. But we are so let them express it anyway they can.
I disagree. This is not a “professional” movement, nor is it “unprofessional” to express oneself in the myriad ways Tea Partiers have.
All the signs and costumes have given many of these events an upbeat and warm atmosphere. The signs and costumes were a very enjoyable way for people to connect with one another at these huge events, especially just with a smile, a thumbs up, or a “let me take your pic.”
Without these outward things on which we could all quickly connect, we would have been a mass of people wandering around, not really sure what other people thought. The signs are not only for protest, they help us connect with each other at these events.
It will die out or transform on its own, when the time is right.
Beck has bigger fish to fry than this. The Tea Party is an organic movement and he should leave it alone to do its thing.
Personally I would not wear one, but to tell others what to do or not to do always bothers me.
Beck is also wrong that signs give the media “ammunition.”
First, the MSM has thrown everything it has at the Tea Party movement and hasn’t put a dent in it.
Secondly, the signs, which show up in every pic published in the media, have done more to inform the public of the ideas and energy of the Tea Party than just about anything else. These pics of the crowd with signs and costumes — and outpouring of individual thought, creativity and emotion — draw attention and say more than anything written in the accompanying article.
These pics get published all over the world and have done much to convey the real energy and creativity of the movement.
Does Beck think a pic of a mass of people sitting in their Sunday clothes is going to convey the meaning of the movement or even attract any attention to our cause?
And, finally, as I have posted, one much needed aspect of the movement is that the events have been fun and provided fellowship with fellow Patriots. There is often humor and a form of interpersonal bonding in the cause that takes place over seeing shared sentiments on signs and funny or poignant costumes — and the fact that so many Americans care enough to express themseles that way.
Beck is dead wrong on this. Moreover, it’s a matter that will take care of itself over time.
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