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Glenn Beck: A Case Study in What’s Ailing Conservatism
Townhall.com ^ | December 22, 2011 | AWR Hawkins

Posted on 12/22/2011 7:26:45 AM PST by Kaslin

In between his purchases of gold bullion and road flares, his attempts to put one more gallon of water in his cellar, and the addition of twenty more cans of green beans for dooms day, Glenn Beck has recently taken time to criticize and perhaps even undercut the GOP.

For example, in his appearance on Freedom Watch with Andrew Napolitano last week, Beck said that President Obama and Newt Gingrich were both progressives, and that the only reason the Tea Party is supporting Newt over Obama is due to race.

Let’s examine these claims one at a time.

Why is Gingrich a progressive? According to Beck it’s because Gingrich liked Theodore Roosevelt. And as my friend Coach Turnbow would say, “The problem is, in Beck’s mind everything’s a zero sum game.” i.e., Beck seems to lack the ability to understand that Gingrich could like certain aspects of Roosevelt that weren’t progressive without liking those that were.

I, for one, love Teddy Roosevelt’s use of the Navy – the Great White Fleet – which he painted bright white and sent around the world so that our would-be enemies could see it and know that if they messed with America we would crush them. This was a precursor to Ronald Reagan’s use of nuclear weapons and “Peace through Strength.” Does that make me a progressive in Mr. Beck’s mind?

Nevertheless, just for kicks, let’s pretend that Gingrich is a progressive like Obama. Even if we do that, who would assume that the only difference between them is race?

Consider this: Darius Rucker and George Strait are both country singers. If I like Strait’s music more than Rucker’s, does that mean I dislike black people? (For the record, I like Strait and Rucker, which must really test Beck’s method of categorization.)

Currently, Gingrich’s support has waned somewhat in Iowa. But before it did, Beck hinted that he might support Ron Paul as a third party candidate if Gingrich received the GOP nomination. Does Beck understand how the primaries work? During the primaries, the people pick the candidate they like best. So what Beck is saying is that if the people pick Gingrich instead of Mitt Romney, he’s going to throw a temper tantrum and put his support behind a third party candidate to teach the GOP a lesson.

Note to Beck: As Rush Limbaugh has pointed out a million times, a third party spells a second term for Obama -- period.

Sadly, Beck knows that “voting third party on our side for whomever guarantees Obama a victory,” but he’ll do it anyway because he’s shooting from the hip again. He has come completely unglued and I can only hope his followers quit drinking the kool-aid before he leads them, and perhaps even the GOP, to another Jonestown.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: beck; glennbeck; newt; obama
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1 posted on 12/22/2011 7:26:46 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

One thing I like about Rush Limbaugh is that he’s never let his amazing popularity lead him to delusions of political grandeur.


2 posted on 12/22/2011 7:31:52 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: Kaslin

I generally like Beck, and he did the nation a great service during his time a Fox educating on the history of progressive politics and and cretins in this current administration. That said, these two recent comments...the race one about Gingrich and the third party threat, are really poor on his part. Really poor.

Given that he is trying to get this media company up and running, this seems like such a stupid comment to make at this time. I am fine if he doesn’t want Newt, and states why someone else is a better choice, but this recent performance has turned me off completely.


3 posted on 12/22/2011 7:33:25 AM PST by ilgipper (Everything you get from the government was taken from someone else)
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To: Kaslin

The problems with Glenn Beck are problems with Glenn Beck.

Conservatism has its problems but they are separate and different.

Glenn Beck is fast heading where he belongs: toward invisibility and irrelevance.


4 posted on 12/22/2011 7:34:58 AM PST by rogue yam
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To: Kaslin

The problem with conservatism is infiltration by liberals who think that they are conservatives.


5 posted on 12/22/2011 7:37:06 AM PST by BuffaloJack (Defeat Obama. End Obama's War On Freedom.)
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To: ilgipper
Beck's been right about a great many things - Obama's Marxist connections, the dangers posed by organized labor groups working with Soros-funded foundations, the need for a rebirth of American values, and the radical dominance of Progressives in both parties' leadership.

But he's wrong about this, and I hope he sees his mistake before too long. Is Gingrich a Progressive? Yes. Is Romney? Yes. Is Obama? Yes.

But they are not all equally wedded to Progressivism.

In my opinion, Beck's failure to differentiate between people who sometimes espouse Progressive ideas (Gingrich), those who do it frequently (Romney), and those who wish to impose it imperiously as doctrine (Obama) is causing him to ignore the reality of electoral politics.

I understand his passion, which comes largely from a sense that profound and even apocalyptic economic and social disruptions are coming to America, and soon. But the fact is that most of us are not sitting around waiting for Armageddon and we are not looking for perfection in a candidate.

We need to beat Obama because our future as a nation depends upon it.

That means supporting the best, electable candidate who is reliably conservative on as many issues as possible. It also means not attacking our own side too harshly out of emotional frustration, but in reserving our fire for Obama and his radical Democrats - they deserve it. I hope Glenn comes to this conclusion and decides to tone it down, at least by removing the emotionalism from his critiques of Republicans. To do so is not an abandonment of principle - it is only a tactic in the service of a greater cause.

6 posted on 12/22/2011 7:38:02 AM PST by andy58-in-nh (America does not need to be organized: it needs to be liberated.)
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To: Kaslin
"Why is Gingrich a progressive? According to Beck it’s because Gingrich liked Theodore Roosevelt."

Quotes from TR:

"The great body of our citizens shoot less as times goes on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power."

"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English- Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian- Americans, or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic."

Yeah, I only wish that we had "conservatives" that would speak as plainly about the 2nd amendment and "hyphenated Americans" as TR called them out on the road. Sure, Teddy had some progressive ideas. He wasn't perfect, but he had a lot of good conservative ideas. He's a man who won a Nobel Peace Prize and the Medal of Honor. When Glen Beck's done either of these things, perhaps he can assail Teddy's record...
7 posted on 12/22/2011 7:38:37 AM PST by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: Kaslin

The problem with conservativism is that there are not enough conservatives. Everything else flows from that.


8 posted on 12/22/2011 7:39:33 AM PST by Bruce Campbells Chin
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To: rogue yam
Beck never made this race claim. Did you, or the author, or any other critics listen to him when he supposedly said it on his show? He was being facetious, and quickly recapped it by saying that of course Tea Party folk are not racist.

Has Beck made no contribution to the national dialogue these past 3 years? All that has been topic for his show? All of naught value? Is this what you believe?
9 posted on 12/22/2011 7:39:56 AM PST by jobim (.)
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To: rogue yam

I think that for some reason, a lot of our conservative ¨pundits¨ are revealing themselves to be flakes who have delusions of grandeur and importance. Think of Ann Coulter with her sudden Romney-worship, as well as the others who are either for Romney, for Paul, or for some completely unknown and non-existent ¨other alternative.¨ Or people like Peggy Noonan and Kathleen Parker, who seem to spend their time criticizing the candidate´s wives. Nuts.

I think some of these people did good work for many years, but perhaps the feeling that they were out there, out front for so many years, went to their heads and they began to think of themselves as both kingmakers and kings.

It´s true, btw, that Rush is about the only one who so far has seemed exempt from this.


10 posted on 12/22/2011 7:43:04 AM PST by livius
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To: Kaslin

Very good article. Beck jumped the shark for me after his big DC rally - I think his ego started to get out of control. He started to become more preachy and almost Alex Jones like - minus the hysterical anger. When he started on Gingrich it really pissed me off. Yes, Gingrich has some issues but seriously why would Beck do anything that could help bozo the ass clown get re-elected? One thing to note in spite of all his warts, Gringrich loves this country - if he becomes the nominee it will be about the guy who loves this country and the guy who hates this country. Is he the perfect candidate? No. But we are at a cross roads and if bozo gets a second term it is over. We are done. This is the time we have to pull together and support who ever is the nominee even if it is not our preferred candidate. I know that is not ideal but when the house is on fire you can’t be worried about the walls getting soot on them. You have to put out the fire!


11 posted on 12/22/2011 7:43:41 AM PST by Newton (If Obama is the answer it's probably a stupid question.)
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To: jobim
Beck never made this race claim. Did you, or the author, or any other critics listen to him when he supposedly said it on his show? He was being facetious,

Just for clarification (because I didn't see it)...Are you saying that he never made the statement, or that he did make it but it was obviously facetious in context? Because I'm a bit confused by the "he never said it but it was facetious" explanation.

12 posted on 12/22/2011 7:46:02 AM PST by Bruce Campbells Chin
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To: jobim

Ah, but what he said doesn’t matter in the end. It’s what the media says he said that counts.


13 posted on 12/22/2011 7:46:16 AM PST by SuzyQue (Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.)
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To: Kaslin

So what is your opinion? Is Progressivism a danger to the Republic? Does Gingrich in fact espouse any Progressive principals? Have you listened to the points Beck makes in regards to Gingrich’s statements on Progressivism? It is possible to agree with Beck, and still vote for Gingrich as the best available option, but isn’t it incumbent upon a thinking public to analyze what a candidate has actually said and done? And this is not to negate the positives, as recently pointed out by Thomas Sowell. But isn’t a critical analysis based upon fact an important aspect of these primaries? We are, of course, at that magic threshold of GDP/debt of 15 trillion (100%), and how did we get here? Has it been by following the Constitution?


14 posted on 12/22/2011 7:47:31 AM PST by jobim (.)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

I agree, I believe that’s Glen’s problem. He’s done a lot of good but since it has become about himself he will more than undo it.


15 posted on 12/22/2011 7:50:22 AM PST by duffee (NEWT 2012)
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To: Newton

There was a time when I enjoyed listening to Beck’s radio show, but now it’s become one big commercial for his TV network, his latest book, his new clothing line, and his upcoming mega rally (yes, there’s another one in the works).


16 posted on 12/22/2011 7:52:11 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia (Be careful of believing something just because you want it to be true.)
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To: Bruce Campbells Chin
When I said he never made this claim, I meant that it was not his belief. He made the statement, following a thought experiment, looking for a possible explanation, and then dismissed it as nonsense.

How do we get to this juncture where we have such vehement opinions about someone, and yet we don't know what he said? I wonder sometimes that computer media is dumbing us down from critical thinking because we inhabit a world of bits and pieces of info that incite immediate reactions, which triggers this in others, and a chain of shallow emotional reactions reverberates from sea to shining sea.
17 posted on 12/22/2011 7:54:23 AM PST by jobim (.)
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To: jobim

“Beck never made this race claim. Did you, or the author, or any other critics listen to him when he supposedly said it on his show?”

He made the race comment on Napolitano’s show. He was quite serious and spoke plainly about it. Here is a link. Start at the 1:20 mark.

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1319042666001/

It was one of the dumbest things ever said on national TV.


18 posted on 12/22/2011 7:55:08 AM PST by BigBobber
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To: None

Glenn Beck back at what he knows best from his shock jock radio days. His internet TV GBTV empire is probably crumbling and he’s out promoting the only way he knows how when he is desperate.


19 posted on 12/22/2011 7:56:02 AM PST by RBStealth
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To: BuffaloJack

Agreed. Necons are the problem with our party.


20 posted on 12/22/2011 7:56:40 AM PST by swampfox101
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