Glenn Beck

South Florida Conservative Talk Show Host Joyce Kaufman And Congressman Elect Allen West: Two “Wingnuts” That Will Make News! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

One of the most notable Tea Party Movement favorites who won election to the House of Representatives last week was Allen West, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, who was forced to leave the military after inappropriate treatment of a prisoner In Iraq in 2003, and who has been associated with right wing, pro gun groups!

With large amounts of money, including support from Karl Rove associated groups, West defeated Congressman Ron Klein of Boca Raton, in one of the most confrontational campaigns in the country! 🙁

West is a “wing nut” who will make lots of news with his comments and actions, seen by many as an African American male counterpart of Michele Bachmann, Congresswoman from Minnesota, who is constantly making outrageous statements and calling for extremist actions against the opposition party, and confrontation in foreign policy!

It is bad enough that West will be a “nightmare” in Congress, but he has now appointed right wing “nut job” talk show host Joyce Kaufman, who is a South Florida “wannabe” replica of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity on the local level! 🙁

Kaufman has been an outrageous talk show host on WFTL in Fort Lauderdale, spewing poison, hate, and nastiness, calling for violent actions against illegal immigrants, war against Islam, and ridiculing Democrats in despicable language, such as calling Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Debbie Wasserman Schmutz (dirt in Yiddish)! She has used similar assaulting language against other Democrats, including former Congressman Robert Wexler, and other Democrats on the national scene, and has been totally negative in every way toward President Barack Obama!

She will now gain national attention, which she craves, as the Chief of Staff to Congressman West, and she is sure to be a “lightning rod”, drawing controversy by her statements and actions, instead of being a quiet, behind the scenes figure as Chief of Staff!

It is odd for a political figure to pick a media personality to be the leader of his staff! It is also weird that Kaufman, who constantly promotes states rights and hatred of the federal government, will now be a federal government employee and be paid by taxpayers for her work!

Interesting example of total hypocrisy on her part, and it also brings to mind that she somehow expects to be a “correspondent” for her radio station while working for West, which is seen by people on Capitol Hill as a conflict of interest, and totally inappropriate, and possibly illegal to boot!

But then conservatives like to rail against government, and then feed at the public trough as they pursue their agenda to make this country a land of the elite doing everything they can to make the rich richer, the poor poorer, and the middle class slipping constantly down in the direction of poverty!

The voters of the 22nd Congressional District of Florida will eventually realize the blunder they have made, brought about by large amounts of corporate cash without limit, thanks to the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case in January of this year! 🙁

The Conspiracy Industry And Barack Obama: The Trip To India!

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President Barack Obama has been accused of being a secret Muslim, a Kenyan, a non citizen, a Socialist, a Marxist, planning to put people into government sponsored concentration camps, etc etc etc, ad infinitum! 🙁

Now the right wing nuts, or as John Avlon calls them, “wingnuts”, claim that President Obama’s trip to India is costing the government $200 million a day, and requires 40 planes and includes 3,000 guests, on what is portrayed as a “vacation”, rather than a trip to promote economic interests and diplomacy! 🙁

This conspiracy theory began with Michele Bachmann, and has been promoted by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and other people, rightfully called “wingnuts” by John Avlon! 🙁

Why do people choose to make up such lies, and why do so many millions of Americans choose to believe this propaganda? 🙁

As former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York once said, a person is entitled to his opinions, but not to his own facts! 🙁

It is scary how so many millions of Americans do not seem to realize that they are being bamboozled, being made out to be jerks who have no ability to analyze and evaluate evidence, and instead are manipulated by liars who have no scruples or ethics, and meanwhile are rewarded with public office and obscene wealth based on their despicable propaganda! 🙁

Glenn Beck: Clear And Present Danger! He Must Be Repudiated For His Rhetoric!

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Glenn Beck, the Fox News Channel talk show host, has become ever more extreme in his rhetoric, promoting conspiracy theories, talking about revolution coming, and stirring loony “true believers” to plan assassination of “enemies”, and promoting hate of “progressives”, who are made out to be unAmerican and dangerous to the nation’s security and safety! 🙁

Beck invites lunatics such as Congresswomen Michele Bachmann and Senator Jim DeMint to speak on his program, and they are also inciting dangerous reactions by unstable people, creating the possibility of violence and assassination of “enemies” that these people see in anyone who opposes their crazy, narrow minded ideas about the future of the nation! 🙁

The organization Media Matters has called on Sarah Palin to repudiate Glenn Beck’s rhetoric and tactics, but it seems unlikely that any such action is in the offing!

Fox News Channel should recognize the dangerous nature of Glenn Beck and remove him from the air, but the problem is that Fox is itself involved in creating a confrontational attitude in its quest to promote the agenda of Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch!

What is needed is for advertisers to withdraw from the Glenn Beck show and from Fox News Channel altogether, as the only way to make this irresponsible excuse of a news channel to change its behavior and report the news in a responsible manner! 🙁

Is Glenn Beck The New Joseph McCarthy? :(

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Talk show host Glenn Beck spoke yesterday about the Progressive rally on the Washington Mall last Saturday, and he introduced an element of McCarthyism to the vicious attack that he has been delivering for the past two years against President Barack Obama!

The fact that a small element of the mass of people who showed up for the rally happened to be identifiable as “Communists” led Beck to claim that President Obama is being given advice by “Communists”, a totally preposterous charge!

There is absolutely no evidence of such an accusation, but it sounds suspiciously like Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, who ran rampant for almost five years from early 1950 to late 1954, accusing everyone within reach of being either a “Communist” or “soft on Communism”, including President Harry Truman! 🙁

One would think that such a ridiculous charge was long gone as a dirty tactic, but it looks as if Glenn Beck has no limits in his character assassination of President Obama! 🙁

It just adds to Glenn Beck’s image as an irresponsible, reckless demagogue of the first order! 🙁

Progressive Rally Promotes Involvement And Commitment To Goals Of Jobs, Education, And Justice!

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An estimated crowd of 175,000 people showed up at yesterday’s One Nation Working Together rally on the Washington Mall, to promote support for the progressive goals of jobs, education, and justice!

To many observers, it seemed that Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally drew more people on August 28, although CBS News estimated that crowd at 87,000, as compared to Beck’s belief that 500,000 showed up at his rally!

In any case, it was obvious that the progressive rally, promoted by talk show host Ed Schultz of MSNBC,  drew a wide variety of groups, committed to progressive goals and wishing to rally people to vote next month so that the Democrats keep power in the House of Representatives and Senate!

With one month to go, the emphasis has to be on overcoming apathy and convincing those who supported Barack Obama in 2008, including young people, minorities, and independents, to be involved, and to understand the importance of voting to keep the Obama agenda alive and kicking!

Progressive March On Washington To Counteract Tea Party Movement This Coming Saturday!

Ronald 3 Comments

A March On Washington is to take place on Saturday, October 2, promoted by 300 liberal groups–including the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force–to promote the goals of education, justice and employment!

Making clear their opposition to the Senate refusing to get past the filibuster and take action on House bills, the various groups have declared their right to claim they are the inheritors of Martin Luther King., Jr. and his August 28, 1963 March on Washington, rather than Glenn Beck who supposedly “accidentally” chose the 47th Anniversary of the March to hold his Tea Party and conservative gathering on the Washington Mall!

The ideas that the March this Saturday are promoting include: raising the minimum wage, extending unemployment benefits beyond 99 weeks, solving the problem of home foreclosures, creating of infrastructure jobs, and solving the immigration crisis!

Interestingly, various religious groups are supporting the march, including the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the National Baptist Convention, and a number of Jewish groups!

Hopefully, the rally will draw more people than the August 28 March, with debate about how many actually showed up at that rally!

The Republican And Conservative Exploitation Of September 11 :(

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On the eve of the 9th anniversary of the most horrific day in American history since Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it is shocking to recognize how the Republican leadership and conservative talk show hosts have utilized September 11 to divide this country by promoting hate, hysteria, and panic on a level WORSE than Joseph McCarthy and his Republican and conservative backers stirred anti Communist “witch hunts” during the late 1940s and early 1950s!

There is nothing that these despicable public figures will not do to promote their agenda, including comparing Pastor Terry Jones’s threat to burn Korans with the Islamic interfaith center that is planned for two blocks from Ground Zero in New York City! The former is designed to promote hate and bloodshed, while the latter’s purpose is to promote interfaith understanding and dialogue!

It is not too much for Newt Gingrich, John Boehner, and Sarah Palin, among others, to exploit this comparison, but also Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck find no problem in exploiting September 11 for financial gain, by holding a gathering in Anchorage, Alaska with highly expensive tickets to be bought on Ticketmaster, and selling liquor as well, to commemorate that fateful day! Any such event should not have a ticket charge, and liquor being served is totally against the somber nature of the event!

But Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck have no shame and no limits to their hypocrisy, as also John Boehner, Newt Gingrich, and many others, including the many Republican leaders who chose to remain silent and avoid taking a stand for principle, on the evil of Pastor Terry Jones and the principle of religious freedom and diversity represented by the interfaith plans near Ground Zero!

Glenn Beck Becomes The Leading Demagogue In America! :(

Ronald 2 Comments

Glenn Beck has been on a rampage lately, condemning Christianity that promotes social and economic justice, rewriting American history to such an extent that it is unrecognizable, and critical of movements that promoted advancement of equal rights for racial and ethnic minorities, women, and gays! 🙁

When ignorant people think they are being educated about American history and religion from Glenn Beck, including on his web based university (a great money maker), we are in a sad state, as Beck totally distorts reality, and has the ability to manipulate and sway people who have no clue as to what is the truth about everything Beck enunciates!

Beck distorts the Founding Fathers, and condemns any President who promotes reform, and hails conservatives such as Calvin Coolidge, Warren G. Harding, and Ronald Reagan who set back progress in so many ways!

When Beck tried to claim, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s I have a dream speech, that he was reviving what King did, it was a total fabrication, as King denounced states rights, which had led to discrimination, nullification and interposition claims, and Jim Crow segregation in the South! But now Beck and his Tea Party and Fox News followers glorify exactly what King denounced! 🙁

Beck is a very dangerous man, as he stirs up mostly older white people to hate everyone else, and to try to “take back” America! If those who believe in progressive reform and change, and advancement of civil rights and civil liberties remain silent, then lunatics such as Beck will succeed in distorting our freedom of religion, our education system, and our civil harmony! 🙁

Beck is exploiting for his own financial benefit and his own sick ego, and he must be answered and challenged, rather than ignoring him and giving him slack!

Beck is coming close to the Supreme Court definition in Schenck V. US (1919) of speech becoming a “clear and present danger”–that is, speech which provokes and endangers, as in the concept of shouting fire in a crowded theater! He could very well incite loony followers to engage in violence, with him having no motivation except his own aggrandizement! 🙁

“Obama Derangement Syndome” And The Republican Party

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican party has a disease which is spreading widely, and making them look totally ridiculous to anyone who has any brains or common sense!

That disease is “Obama Derangement Syndrome”, which is a condition that blames President Obama for EVERYTHING that goes wrong, even when the President has NOTHING to do with what went wrong!

So it is Obama’s fault that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie failed to win $400 billion in federal aid for the state education system in the competition for federal funds, because the state failed to provide necessary information! It apparently is Obama’s job to make sure every state competing for the grants has filled out the forms correctly! 🙁

It is Obama’s fault that we entered into the Afghanistan War in 2001, according to Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, even though Obama was a state senator in Illinois at the time and George W. Bush was President!

It is Obama’s fault that a mosque will be built at Ground Zero despite the fact the New York City Planning Commission approved the project, and another mosque is already there for many years, two blocks from the site of the new project!

It is Obama’s fault that British Petroleum failed to follow basic rules and regulations, resulting in the oil spill, even though the government reacted quickly to start dealing with the crisis, which BP could not figure out rapidly to resolve satisfactorily!

It is Obama’s fault that his father was born in Kenya and was a Muslim, even though his dad left early and his mother’s white family was Christian!

It is Obama’s fault that the economy has not turned around “on a dime”, rapidly overcoming the mistakes of eight years of the Bush Administration!

We could go on and on and on, but the point is that Obama is being blamed for everything, including original sin, by the opposition–more than any President has been blamed after only 19 months in office, and really even in a complete term of office!

The fact that the Republican party has not come up with one original idea on any government policy, and expects the American people to put them back in control, simply by employing “Obama Derangement Syndrome”, shows exactly why they SHOULD NOT be given back power, as they drove our country “into the ditch”, and now want the keys to take over the country again, a description Obama gave himself as a joke at several public appearances!

The real disease of America is not “Obama Derangement Syndrome”, but instead “Republican Derangement Syndrome”, as they are themselves dividing and fighting in an internal civil war between right wing and far right wing within their party!

Witness the refusal of the losers in Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Alaska to endorse their opponents, and the loony people such as Michele Bachmann who raved after the Washington Mall rally of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin that there had been one million people there, while CBS News estimated the crowd at about 87,000! 🙁

The Republican party is bitterly divided on the far right, and delusional about who should take responsibility for mistakes or failures, and even on basic facts such as size of crowds! 🙁

Is this the group that the American people want to take us into the future? Certainly, we can hope that they have more common sense than that, but we shall see in two months! 🙁

The Truth About Glenn Beck: Be Skeptical Of His “Transformation”! :(

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If one attended, or watched Glenn Beck yesterday on C Span , at the “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington, DC, he seemed very committed to unity and spoke more like a religious evangelist than a political firebrand!

It would be hard to find fault with his message, but it contradicted everything he has said on Fox News Channel and his radio shows, where he has called President Obama a racist, talked about the President as a Muslim, a Fascist, a Nazi, a Communist, a Socialist, a Marxist, a totalitarian, etc!

His rhetoric on television and radio encourages alarm, fear, trepidation, hysteria, and undermines the ability of this country to resolve its economic, social, and foreign policy problems! He has made millions promoting hate, poison, divisiveness, anger and despair, and he has aimed at splitting the American people based on race, religion, and ethnicity! 🙁

How can it be explained that Glenn Beck seemed so different yesterday on the Washington Mall? It is the fact, as the columnist John Avlon has declared, that there is a split personality, a good Glenn Beck struggling with a bad Glenn Beck!

It is clear that Glenn Beck is an opportunist, who is ultimately out to make as much fortune as he can, without considering the effect he has on the rest of us in this country! He realized that this rally yesterday could not be portrayed in the same light as his talk shows, because that would undermine the profit motive always in the forefront of his mind! Better to confuse the American public, some of which is clueless on Glenn Beck’s real motives!

Better for Beck to look reasonable and rational, but watch as he goes back to his emotional ranting and raving on his cable and radio shows!

To believe that Glenn Beck has reformed is to believe in the tooth fairy! Everything he has done is a ploy for his own advancement, and his willingness to besmirch the anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream” speech, and claim he was not aware of the historical date is impossible to believe, as he is not an ignorant man, just a man willing to exploit for his own benefit!

Again, as expressed yesterday, we shall see whether Glenn Beck has reformed, but one can be certain that he is not going to do so, as that would upset many of his followers who prefer the Beck of cable and radio to the Beck of conciliation that we witnessed in wonderment yesterday!