Glenn Beck’s third-party insanity

The Washington Times ^ | 12/14/2011 | Brett M. Decker

[Scanian]

Beck said on Monday that he could support a third-party challenge if Republicans nominate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to run for president against Barack Obama. “If I had a gun to my head, I’ll vote for Mitt Romney,” he explained. “If it’s Newt Gingrich, and there’s a third party, and it’s Ron Paul. … I might consider Ron Paul as a third party.” This position is nuts. Obviously Mr. Beck needs to generate attention for his new GBTV venture since giving up his popular Fox News platform, but promoting ideas that would lead to an Obama second term is reckless and bad for America.

Make no mistake about it, a third-party presence from the right in the 2012 election would bring about conservative defeat and marginalize the movement for years. Recent history shows that splitting up a party leads to ruination for that party and its main constituent components

[Molly T.]

I love Glen Beck....I DON'T ALWAYS AGREE with him, but I am forever in his debt for putting himself on the line, and delving into the many connections and the CORRUPTION that has and is going on in our gov. And let's look back, MOST EVERYTHING he said would happen, HAS HAPPENED....meanwhile, he has really made himself and those around him TARGETS of the thugs who run this gov. at this time. I may part ways with him on several things, but before you jump on me, stop and think what I've said. Where do you think we would be in our thinking right now, were it not for Beck opening our eyes, bringing PROOF every day on what was his TV program? You can rail against him all you want, but he was telling us 2 or 3 years ago what would take place, how our freedoms would be taken from us little by little, and that the majority “would not have eyes to see or ears to hear”.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick and tired of the national Republican party and the media elite telling us who we can vote for.....like the last go round. was there REALLY no one other than McCain to run against Osama/Obama, for us to vote for....but of course I held my nose and voted for McCain. What else could I, a Conservative do? Now , here we go again.....Romney or Gingrich...give me a break..and let's give credit where credit's due, even if we don't always agree with someone.

[driftless2]

Beck got a big head and made a huge mistake when he left FOX. He was basically becoming the face of FOX News and positioning himself to overtake O’Reilly as the big cheese. Now, because of his inflated ego, it’s all down the drain. I liked his old program, but there’s absolutely no way I’m going to subscribe to his new show on his own network. Someone should stick a pin in his ear and deflate him before he bursts.

[andy58-in-nh]

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 that he admires and wishes to promote Michele Bachmann (she is a frequent guest on his radio program). There is a great deal to admire about her - she is a consistent conservative and a powerful voice for the sanctity of Life and for limited government.

But (and I am editorializing completely here, so please make your own judgment) I think Michele has proven to be a poor candidate, evidenced by her inability to achieve more than 3% in most polls. She is also absolutely detested by a huge number of women, particularly in the Northeast (granted - it's Liberalland) but my impression is that the level of hatred for her is even higher than that reserved for Sarah Palin, and that's saying a lot.

Can Bachmann gain traction? Doubtful. Time is short and her negatives are too high. How about Rick Santorum? Beck also likes him - and personally, I absolutely love the guy. People may be willing to give him a look, at last, but time and money is short.

My sense is that Gingrich will fade over then next couple of weeks while Romney stays stuck at his current levels of support, and that a new challenger will emerge (the next "Not Romney"), perhaps from Rick Perry, who has seemed to find his voice lately, and GOP primary voters may be willing to give him a second look.

Which leads me back to Glenn Beck. 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.

[Joe 6-pack]

Just imagine what people would be saying about Beck had he endorsed Dede Scozzafava....

[Buckeye McFrog]

if the establishment somehow forces Romney on us as the nominee, there WILL be a third party candidate. Perhaps a fourth and a fifth too, one of whom could very likely be Ron Paul. And yes, that would mean four more years of Obama.

But the goal at that point will have shifted to taking out the Beltway GOP.

[oldsicilian]

JUST PLAIN NUTS.

[AnglePark]

Just imagine what people would be saying about Beck had he endorsed Dede Scozzafava....

Forgot about that one -- there's so many examples!

[papertyger]

There is a profound difference between one’s speculations, and fact.

Beck has more paid subscribers than Opra’s free network has viewers. His endorsement guarantees a spot on the NYT best seller list as well as a top ten on Amazon for any book he mentions.

The really funny thing is...here you are criticizing Beck for his ego while ignoring a list of his accomplishments that rivals Rush Limbaugh.

[papertyger]

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.

Thank you for perfectly articulating my current disagreement with Beck.

[hfr]

What you said is just the point. I have failed to see a significant difference between the dems and GOP. Every election cycle we're told we have to vote GOP or the ship of state will sink. But the only difference anymore seems to be how fast they lurch to the left.

It's almost a veritable Hobson's choice between the two major parties instead of a real choice. They are so much like to peas from the same pod. Or two puppets in the same puppet show.

[Scanian]

I know what my goal will be if Obama gets reelected——leaving the country!

I’m on short time the way my health is anyway. I don’t care to spend my last months watching that leftwing demolition crew take apart the US piece by piece knowing that no one will do anything about it.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Some days Glenn is perfectly lucid and then other days he’s a cuckoo bird. Fortunately most people have recognized that.

[RetSignman]

Beck is always saying he is ‘riddled with ADT’, what we didn’t know is that ADT means Advanced Delusional Thinking.

[Scanian]

I know what my goal will be if Obama gets reelected——leaving the country!

I’m on short time the way my health is anyway. I don’t care to spend my last months watching that leftwing demolition crew take apart the US piece by piece knowing that no one will do anything about it.

[TBP]

I pretty much agree with Glenn, except he seems more comfortable with Romney than I am.

Newt Romney — progressive to the core, and progressivism is the enemy of human freedom. Nominating progressives is a loser for the GOP, as the last Presidential election should have taught us. Even with the Sarah boost, McCain couldn’t overcome his loser progressivism. NEVER trust progressives, no matter their party label.

The Republicans, three greatest victories of the past 30 years or so have been won by running as conservatives. But the progressive RINOs would rather lose than do that.

And I live in a deep blue state anyway. I can tell you today that our electoral votes are going to the Communist in Chief.

I have many problems with libertarians (though I also agree with them on many things), but I do know that they’re committed limited-government people. So if I’m faced with two progressives and a libertarian, I’m taking the libertarian. Not even close.

[Matchett-PI]

I wrote: “You’ll see why I say that if you click my link in post #23 above. LOL”

You replied: “Nope. Sorry. Must need new glasses....”

A lack of having “new glasses” is merely an external (and fixable) problem. I think your REAL reason for not being able to “see”, goes a bit deeper.

I made a list of certain people and their web sites -—based upon noticing various FReepers being banned for posting stuff from certain web sites, and certain people. Below is that list I keep in my archives. (If I’m making unwarrented assumptions, JR can correct me):

Partial list of right-wing extremist nut-cases banned from posting on FR:

Lindon La Rouche and his trolls
http://www.larouchepac.com/

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Cindy Sheehan’s boyfriend Lew Rockwell and his trolls
http://www.lewrockwell.com/

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Prison Planet.TV and Alex Jones and his trolls
http://prisonplanet.tv/

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Infowars and Alex Jones and his trolls
http://www.infowars.com/

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The Birchers (The John Birch Society) and their trolls
http://www.jbs.org/

<>

Now the video that people have been posing all over FR against Newt lately -— entitled, “The Real Newt Gingrich”, is done by a major-league “Bircher” from WAY back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWPz1Qdq1uI

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MORE:

Mark Levin torches Ron Paul

http://www.therightscoop.com/page/3/
VIDEO: Ron Paul Defends Occupy Wall Street (Blasts America’s “Obsession with war”)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2820134/posts

Mark Levin slams Ron Paul caller

http://www.therightscoop.com/mark-levin-slams-ron-paul-caller/

Beck: Still endorsing Ron Paul over Newt Gingrich

http://www.therightscoop.com/beck-still-endorsing-ron-paul-over-newt-gingrich/

Levin: Newt Gingrich is no Marxist or Socialist like these imbeciles suggest

While there is plenty of legitimate criticism of Newt to go around, Levin says that conservatives and Republicans who have been around a long time know that Newt Gingrich is no Marxist/Socialist “like these imbeciles suggest”. Newt has said some very stupid things, says Levin, but he was also the guy who helped Republicans take back power in the House after four decades. Levin adds that he also doesn’t remember any big liberal agenda being pushed by Newt when he was Speaker of the House.
And Newt’s not even Levin’s candidate, but he’d vote for Newt in a heartbeat over Barack Obama. Because as Levin says, we know who the Socialist and Marxist is, and it’s Obama, not Newt.
He also weighs in on Mitt Romney in this clip as well:
http://www.therightscoop.com/levin-newt-gingrich-is-no-marxist-or-socialist-like-these-imbeciles-suggest/

[true believer forever]

It wasn’t the Knesset, Beck called it the Knesset. It was the Diaspora Committee, like any committee in the US Congress. And not a very important one in Israeli govt. Beck’s host in Israel, either chaired the committee, or was a member. In other words, it meant absolutely nothing to anybody in Israel or Israeli govt, and Beck hyped it to Americans who don’t know any better.

What really troubles me, regarding his current jihad against Newt: Newt said something truly revolutionary about the Palestinian people, and Beck, as far as I can tell, never even mentioned it. Beck, remember, the one who calls himself the last man who will be left standing for Israel if it comes to that. He is just getting so conflicted and incomprehensible.

[B Knotts]

Make no mistake about it, a third-party presence from the right in the 2012 election would bring about conservative defeat and marginalize the movement for years.

No. Nominating a RINO would bring about conservative defeat and marginalize the movement for years.

[TBP]

Not true.