Some here have heard my stories, but I’ll post again for those who haven’t.
In 2010, after being on Glenn’s show and giving him a copy of “A Patriot’s History of the United States,” Beck did what is the greatest dream of any author: he went nuts over the book, held it up many times an HOUR (all this when he had 3.5 million viewers), and made it the #1 NYTimes bestseller for over a months. He started to have me on the show every other week, then I began getting calls on history topics two and three times a week.
Just before he left for Texas, his producers had a long discussion about a new history segment he was going to put in every show, with me handling the material, or even, perhaps, the commentary.
Then we learned he was going to Texas to start his own company. I had just completed a documentary, “Rockin’ the Wall” and started a second, “Other Walls 2 Fall,” about music vs. tyranny. Maybe not “The Civil War,” but good stuff, well made (ended up on PBS). Moreover, I had a budget and proposal for a six-part “Patriot’s History” television series that would have made Beck’s show MUST-SEE for conservatives. It would have been a history version of “Free to Choose.”
I flew to NY and met with Beck for an hour. He showed scant interest in any of the proposals and turned me over to his “video guy” Joel Cheatwood. Very quickly I figured out that they were in no mood to spend even reasonable $$ for quality stuff, that Beck’s show would most often be him doing “live radio” or him with his chalkboard again.
They continued, though at less frequent intervals, to have me on the show, but were increasingly asking me to validate really goofy historical theories, which I refused to do.
For example, they wanted me to support the notion that at Wounded Knee, it was an outright massacre of Indians by whites. Well, no. The 7th Cavalry DID kill a lot of Sioux and plenty of innocents, but the Sioux did NOT give up all their weapons and thought of themselves as impervious to white man’s bullets due to the Ghost Dancing. It’s an important detail that nevertheless paints a much different picture of Wounded Knee. On another occasion, when David Barton had started influencing Glenn, the producers wanted me to say something like America was Weimar Germany in the late 20s and a Hitler was about to take over because Republicans wouldn’t “reach across the aisle” (or something). I repeatedly gave them what I thought was an accurate history of Weimar Germany, and learned that they edited my interview to make it sound like I said exactly the opposite!!
Two other things were going on at this time. First, David Barton had seriously wormed his way into the Beck empire. I have never trusted Barton’s history. I met him a few times and had that creepy feeling. But it was clear to me that after Texas Barton was increasingly influencing Beck’s thought process, and not in a good way.
Before too long I learned that Beck’s long time right hand man, Joe Kerry-—who also headed up Mercury One philanthropies-—was fired and replaced with . . . Barton. Kerry was a great guy, by all my observation a top chief of staff.
The other obvious thing I noticed in Texas was that Beck had a VAST physical plant studio, with two fully operational sound stages. Most TV stations don’t have this. Full lines of dressing rooms, two-story office space. it was ridiculous for the level of activity and production Beck was doing. (It might have been ok if we were producing the “Patriot’s History” series as I had suggested-—but to just do on-camera radio shows? Ridiculous). Anyway, the overhead of such a facility, even if he got the deal of a lifetime, was outrageous. Lacking top quality viewing, there was no way he could sustain that.
Later I heard that his “nut” was over 250,000 subscriptions, but at his peak he only had 150,000. All of this was BEFORE he endorsed Ted Cruz and went full Never Trump.
Ya never go Full NeverTrump.
Anyway, I have not been back on in two years, nor do I ever again expect to get a call from Glenn. But to paraphrase Bogart in “Casablanca,” it “could have been the start of a beautiful relationship.”
Where is Joel Cheatwood, now?
I imagine he wishes, in hindsight (which is crystal clear :), he’d NEVER have left Fox News to hitch his wagon on to GB’s crazy town mobile.
That says it all....