Now who will call us Hitler?

April 7, 2011 1:41 PM

Glenn Beck's television show has been canceled by Fox News.

The reason seems to be that Beck is too crazy for Fox. Beck is keeping silent on his future plans, save for a warning that in one year, those on the Left will be crapping themselves. Beck's website, The Blaze, and his radio show will continue.

posted by cereselle (122 comments total)

With the Lich King dead, the Scourge will run amok.
posted by Xoebe at 1:43 PM on April 7, 2011 [58 favorites]

This approach was tried yesterday. Methinks we need a better-framed post if one is going to be done at all.
posted by blucevalo at 1:44 PM on April 7, 2011

And another Teabagger throws his hat into the Presidential ring...?
posted by Philofacts at 1:44 PM on April 7, 2011

And another Teabagger throws his hat into the Presidential ring...

Now that would be amusing.

Glenn Beck is not a piece of shit.

Agree to disagree.
posted by garuda at 1:46 PM on April 7, 2011

That Guardian article is some giant bullshit.
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 1:47 PM on April 7, 2011

> “One year from now, you on the left will be crapping yourself so much, you haven’t crapped in your pants as much as you will in a year from now. … You’ll crap yourself more than when you were a baby.”

[chuckles] "A chilling vision of things to come!"
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:48 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Glenn Beck is a piece of shit.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 1:48 PM on April 7, 2011 [23 favorites]

eh, this is better than yesterday but still a lame-ish point and laugh.

Fox never even used the word canceled, they just said they would scale back the show and work on new things with Beck (he could have zero shows, he could have four shows next year).

I think Fox is picking up on outrage fatigue mentioned in many other places. Basically if a guy goes on TV everyday and cries wolf, eventually his viewers stop watching because nothing crazy that he "predicted" happened, and he comes off as a doomsday windbag.
posted by mathowie at 1:50 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Now who will call us Hitlersell us overpriced gold and survivalist gear?
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:51 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

It would be nice to not use tags that try to stir up shit.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:51 PM on April 7, 2011 [6 favorites]

What's Inside Glenn Beck's Brain?
posted by gman at 1:52 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

“One year from now, you on the left will be crapping yourself so much, you haven’t crapped in your pants as much as you will in a year from now. … You’ll crap yourself more than when you were a baby.”

YES! LICENSE HAS BEEN GRANTED!

MARKING APRIL 7TH, 2012 ON MY CALENDAR AS ADULT BABY DAY

BUYING DIAPERS AND CUEING UP KOOL & THE GANG'S "CELEBRATION" IN FEVERISH ANTICIPATION
posted by Greg Nog at 1:53 PM on April 7, 2011 [35 favorites]

I call dibs on "Doomsday Windbag" for the name of my forthcoming sockpuppet account.
posted by bayani at 1:53 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

With the Lich King dead, the Scourge will run amok.

There must always be a Glenn Beck.
posted by ego at 1:54 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Glenn Beck is a portion of a stool.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:55 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

With the Lich King dead, the Scourge will run amok.

Chalkboarde hungers!
posted by explosion at 1:56 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Are you saying he's an aliquot of fæces?
posted by Mister_A at 1:56 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

What's Inside Glenn Beck's Brain?
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:57 PM on April 7, 2011 [5 favorites]

I kind of wanted to write an obit style post, first starting with how his show began, and then ending with the news from yesterday. But it would still be pretty thin, at least if I were to write it.

But it should be noted that 1.) His show is getting prepared for departure from FOX, and 2.) he is not at all being separated from FOX as he will be doing projects for them. So the marriage between the two is not done yet by a longshot.

That, plus I am pretty sure FOX can find another windbag to pay low salary to in order to fill the time slot with fluff.

In other words, yay, an evil dude is soon to be done with his skit, and there's another coming from over the hill.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 1:57 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

“I know who Roger Ailes is. Roger Ailes is the guy if we don’t have Roger Ailes we probably wouldn’t have had Ronald Reagan as a President. So I honor his service to his country. He’s a businessman. That’s what he does. He’s done an amazing thing for our country. I don’t know honestly if we would survive as a country. I don’t know if we would still be the United States of America if it wasn’t for Fox News and Roger Ailes." - via

posted by birdherder at 1:58 PM on April 7, 2011

Meanwhile, Hannity keeps hurling horseshit down the mouths of middle America. It's fun to laugh and get angry at Beck, but he's really just a clown. Fox will still leverage him to sell their agenda, but they just need to give him a more restrictive cage.
posted by Burhanistan at 1:59 PM on April 7, 2011

Like I said in the deleted thread, he's probably not going away any time soon. Look for a 24/7 teabagging channel down the pipe, headlined by Beck.

Even if Beck really was retiring, some FOX goon will quickly take his place. Probably one of their sexed-up, always outraged women anchors, for that fair and balanced feel.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:59 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's funny because I hate him and wish he would go away for ever and ever.
posted by EatTheWeak at 2:00 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

That Guardian article is some giant bullshit.

Other than the idea that CBS's "rural purge" was in spite of the shows that were cancelled being top-rated (they had in fact declined in popularity, thus the cancellations) ..... why is it bullshit?
posted by blucevalo at 2:02 PM on April 7, 2011

Cornfield.
posted by benzenedream at 2:03 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Meanwhile, Hannity keeps hurling horseshit down the mouths of middle America.

For whatever reason Hannity has always bothered me more than beck. Beck does come off as a clown. Hannity comes off as someone that's just a complete idiot that believes completely in the nonsense coming out of his mouth.
posted by justgary at 2:03 PM on April 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

Well damn, I didn't know there was a deleted thread. Probably because it was deleted. I wouldn't have posted had I known.
posted by cereselle at 2:03 PM on April 7, 2011

This will almost certainly mean something even more terrible will happen.
posted by Artw at 2:05 PM on April 7, 2011

And another Teabagger throws his hat into the Presidential ring...?

Or dangles his testicles in a prostrate public's open oral cavity.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:05 PM on April 7, 2011

.
posted by drezdn at 2:06 PM on April 7, 2011

This will almost certainly mean something even more terrible will happen.

What, like gut the nation's social safety net services and destroy education for a generation in order to lower the top tax rate to 25%? HAHAHA as if!!
posted by Mister_A at 2:06 PM on April 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

What is the opposite of "."?
posted by goethean at 2:07 PM on April 7, 2011

*
posted by goethean at 2:07 PM on April 7, 2011 [17 favorites]

"Look for a 24/7 teabagging channel down the pipe, headlined by Beck."

Somewhere, a closeted Republican is masturbating to this phrase.
posted by klangklangston at 2:07 PM on April 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

No such thing as a double of a deleted thread.
posted by Artw at 2:08 PM on April 7, 2011

In light of the 30-days without snark post from yesterday, all I'll say is that Glenn Beck has done an awful lot to prove that you can become fabulously wealthy and a powerful media figure despite being clinically insane.
posted by crunchland at 2:08 PM on April 7, 2011

What's Inside Glenn Beck's Brain?

This is a false premise, but can be reworded as "If Glenn Beck had a brain, what would be inside it?". But really, why speculate, Mr. Becks brain is as real as a lily-white unicorn at play on the fields of Elysium.
posted by doctor_negative at 2:08 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I listened me to some Glenn Beck.
He sounds like a man in need of more money.
posted by clavdivs at 2:09 PM on April 7, 2011

This is going to get posted sooner or later. Matt seems to think it's marginal, but okay.

I sense a great rift in this country. Republicans only pull a majority by a very narrow margin, and can't really afford to lose their base. And yet the tea Bag contingent is so suspicious, paranoid, and essentially anti-government that they barely trust the elected Republicans -- not even the ones who claim to represent them, like Michele Bachmann. They may well see this as yet another betrayal of the Tea Party by mainstream conservatives, and push them further to the fringes. As both Sarah Palin and Bachmann are making noises about a presidential run, it's very possible they will run as independents under the Tea Party banner, and Republicans would lose a significant chunk of its base, splitting the vote and giving democrats an edge.

At least, that's what I'd like to see. It's also possible most Tea Party followers will get folded into the main of the Republican party, and an insignificant fringe will go totally batshit insane, head down to their basements, and start making bombs.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:09 PM on April 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

Two years ago I was in the same room as Glenn Beck. Even after all that time, I still feel like I haven't washed all the crazy off.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:10 PM on April 7, 2011 [10 favorites]

And another Teabagger throws his hat into the Presidential ring...?

Beck would have to give up his radio show, web site and whatever other things he's got going on under the publicity rules.

And I'm guessing he likes his money.

I await the day when his theories about conspiracies and income from them crosses streams with Alex Jones or (Jack/jay?) Black or any of the others on GCN/RBN/TLA networks. Alas, on that day Jon Stewart won't cover those yelling matches.

(And place your bids - who Jon Stewart lampoons next and goes down next)
posted by rough ashlar at 2:11 PM on April 7, 2011

While I do not personally agree with the politics, views, tone, use of chalkboards to graphically present data, and voice level of Mr. Glenn Beck I wish him good luck on future endeavors and hope his current outlets are able to support his family in some capacity.
posted by hellojed at 2:11 PM on April 7, 2011

JoeXIII007: "I kind of wanted to write an obit style post, first starting with how his show began, and then ending with the news from yesterday. But it would still be pretty thin, at least if I were to write it.

But it should be noted that 1.) His show is getting prepared for departure from FOX, and 2.) he is not at all being separated from FOX as he will be doing projects for them. So the marriage between the two is not done yet by a longshot.

That, plus I am pretty sure FOX can find another windbag to pay low salary to in order to fill the time slot with fluff.

In other words, yay, an evil dude is soon to be done with his skit, and there's another coming from over the hill."

Meet the new shit, same as the old shit?
posted by Splunge at 2:12 PM on April 7, 2011

> And place your bids - who Jon Stewart lampoons next and goes down next

I don't think there's a causal link there, in case one was implied. Beck didn't need to be lampooned for mainstream advertisers to find him repellent.
posted by Burhanistan at 2:12 PM on April 7, 2011

I think it's great that Glenn Beck has made it okay for (conservative) men to cry publicly at the drop of a hat. Even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.
posted by entropicamericana at 2:13 PM on April 7, 2011 [6 favorites]

Did they remove the head or destroyed the brain?
posted by The Whelk at 2:14 PM on April 7, 2011 [5 favorites]

who Jon Stewart lampoons next and goes down next

Maybe Jon could lampoon middle-of-the-road nice guys who wish we could all just along instead of making all the gosh-darn ruckus and calling evil out for what it is.
posted by entropicamericana at 2:15 PM on April 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

DID THEY DESTROYED THE BRAIN?!
posted by found missing at 2:15 PM on April 7, 2011 [16 favorites]

They saved Becks' Brain.
posted by clavdivs at 2:15 PM on April 7, 2011

HOW IS BRAIN DESTROYED? UNPOSSIBLE!?!?!!
posted by Mister_A at 2:18 PM on April 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

Beck didn't need to be lampooned for mainstream advertisers to find him repellent.

He obviously had "good" advertisers for it to be reported how he was dropped by a bunch of advertisers.

Mr. Steward's staff or himself might be magic and able to get cancellations or parts of the staff looks for dips in advertising outside of normal ebb/flow and then pick that water to chum with red-blooded mocking.
posted by rough ashlar at 2:18 PM on April 7, 2011

Beck has been trumped.
posted by Eyebeams at 2:21 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

That didn't take long: Fox News Announces New TV, Digital Projects With Glenn Beck.

And from the mouth of the ass - Beck: My Future and Fox News - "I took this job to ring the bell"

(By the way, Longfellow took some "artistic license" with reality, just like Beck. )
posted by filthy light thief at 2:21 PM on April 7, 2011

He obviously had "good" advertisers for it to be reported how he was dropped by a bunch of advertisers.

Advertisers who had fled Glenn Beck, as of Aug 2009.

Advertisers who were still with Glenn Beck, as of Aug 2009.

Yup, quality, indeed.
posted by hippybear at 2:22 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

You can take the boy out of the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the manure.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:22 PM on April 7, 2011

they just said they would scale back the show and work on new things with Beck

Beck in 3D? Telestrater instead of chalkboard? Confused 5 minute Andy Rooneyesque screeds at the end of every newscast? I demand to know.
posted by Hoopo at 2:22 PM on April 7, 2011

So my theory is that FOX is going to air very, very frequent "special reports" from Glenn Beck, at more or less random timeslots. This will let FOX feed the Beck audience while making it more difficult to arrange a boycott against corporations that advertise on the show (since now there's not one discrete thing identifiable as the "Glenn Beck show").
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 2:23 PM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

Blazecock Pileon: Look for a 24/7 teabagging channel down the pipe

Well, there's the RightNetwork to compete with (previously).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:25 PM on April 7, 2011

> He obviously had "good" advertisers for it to be reported how he was dropped by a bunch of advertisers.

He had "good" advertisers because he was featured on a highly rated cable news channel and had a very strong base of viewers. Even so, those advertisers had no wish to be associated with his inane vitriol. I doubt Stewart had anything to do with this. Look how mercilessly Stewart mocked the Bush administration.
posted by Burhanistan at 2:25 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

while making it more difficult to arrange a boycott against corporations that advertise on the show

If such is the case - then does that not show that boycotts and where you choose to spend your money does actually have an effect?

(Come on Anonymous! Lets have that cell phone p2p tool to help figure out where to spend/not spend money....)
posted by rough ashlar at 2:25 PM on April 7, 2011

. . . now there's not one discrete thing identifiable as the "Glenn Beck show".

At no time was discretion ever identified with that show.
posted by Herodios at 2:26 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Look how mercilessly Stewart mocked the Bush administration.

*looks around*

See - they are gone too!

*ducks*
posted by rough ashlar at 2:26 PM on April 7, 2011

"But we’re also going to be doing things, looking for different audiences, younger audiences, comedy audiences as well."

Oooh, comedy! Conservative comedy! Because that always works out so well!
posted by brundlefly at 2:38 PM on April 7, 2011 [8 favorites]

I hope they really are going to re-brand the show as Glenn Beck's Dope-Ass Newsocaust, as I read somewhere.
posted by Mister_A at 2:43 PM on April 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

Jesus, didn't they try a comedy show with limbaugh already?

Glenn Beck had a show because it derail popular discourse into the inane. News Corp still has the rest of Fox News, NY Post, the WSJ Op-Ed page, and the millions of misguided liberals that take cues from them about what to be pissed off about daily.

He was a replaceable placeholder for a conservative political movement that doesnt have to be rational to win. They have to distract and enrage, and thats incredibly easy to do and lucrative in this country.
posted by lslelel at 2:43 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Come on brundlefly, what's funnier than Dennis Miller and Ben Stein?














A: Everything else in the universe!
posted by Mister_A at 2:44 PM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

A year from now?
I wouldn't put it past that loon to actually run for President. Or call for armed insurrection. Flip a coin.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:45 PM on April 7, 2011

I hope they really are going to re-brand the show as Glenn Beck's Dope-Ass Newsocaust, as I read somewhere.

Well, he is both a dope and an ass, so yeah... truth in advertising!
posted by arto at 2:45 PM on April 7, 2011

Oooh, comedy! Conservative comedy! Because that always works out so well!

If you've ever thought that the cause of the economic collapse was due to secret communists and a year of Barack Obama and not 8 years of deregulation, warfare, and tax reductions for the wealthy, you might be a Beck fan.

If you've ever showed up at a protest to demonstrate against your own right to collectively bargain, you might be a Beck fan.

If you've ever been afraid of someone because someone else who looks like them was a terrorist, you might be a Beck fan.

Yeah, it's just not funny, is it?
posted by notion at 2:46 PM on April 7, 2011 [11 favorites]

lslelel: "Jesus, didn't they try a comedy show with limbaugh already?"

Are you thinking of this, which featured Limbaugh and Coulter in the first episode?
posted by brundlefly at 2:47 PM on April 7, 2011

Wait. We can make this worth it. Crossfire with Glenn Beck and Charlie Sheen.

WINNING.
posted by notion at 2:49 PM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

And without snark, this actually gives me a little bit more hope for America. It's time for a fucking beer. Cheers, y'all.
posted by notion at 2:51 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

notion: "Wait. We can make this worth it. Crossfire with Glenn Beck and Charlie Sheen."

I was going to say that it could be called "Birther/Truther", but then I remembered that Glenn Beck actually isn't a birther, which is sort of weird. Seems like if you're going to believe in all these nutbar conspiracy theories, you might as well go all the way.
posted by brundlefly at 2:54 PM on April 7, 2011

Did they remove the head or destroyed the brain?

Damn you, Whelk. I'm laughing uncontrollably on the bus, which would make me look like a crazy person, except I'm in downtown Seattle.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:59 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

> Seems like if you're going to believe in all these nutbar conspiracy theories, you might as well go all the way.

I think that brings up another point about why Fox's brass might've wanted to shuffle Beck aside. Beck wasn't always 100% condemning every single thing Obama did, unlike some of the more properly scripted pundits and talking heads there. When Obama gave that stirring speech in Arizona after Giffords was shot, Beck praise for him. That certainly wasn't what Limbaugh or other shills were doing.

Beck's views are crazy, malevolent, and trend towards right wing, but they don't always intersect with the program. Combine that with dropped ad revenue and you see why they pulled his show.
posted by Burhanistan at 2:59 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

^er, Beck had praise for him.
posted by Burhanistan at 3:00 PM on April 7, 2011

Combine that with dropped ad revenue and you see why they pulled his show.

For "fair and balanced news", being on message is key.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:01 PM on April 7, 2011

Phew, FINALLY! Now Beck will have time to count all his money!
posted by Ron Thanagar at 3:04 PM on April 7, 2011

Beck has been trumped.

That's what I was thinking too. Trump was practically foaming at the mouth this morning on the Today show with the birther nonsense.
posted by Big_B at 3:09 PM on April 7, 2011

I wouldn't put it past that loon to actually run for President.

Beck is a lot smarter than people seem to give him credit for and I think that he's well aware that his place in the media wouldn't and shouldn't bleed into the actual political process of our country. (Yes, media informs public informs politics, blah blah blah, but he is not directly involved. We'll argue about that later.)

There was an interview a week or so ago between Beck and Bill O'Reilly discussing Trump's potential presidential bid, and Beck said something to the effect of—and I'm paraphrasing here—"I know that I shouldn't be in charge; I'm just an entertainer."

And for what it's worth, I hate Back's over-hyped rhetoric and crazed theories; I just hate to see MeFi jump all over him for something I don't think he would do. Blame people for what they do, not what you wish you could blame them for.
posted by reductiondesign at 3:12 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

This makes perfect sense. The Overton Window has been moved as far as the zeitgeist will permit him to move it. His utility is no more.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 3:21 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

This article had me until "And for decades prior to the rise of talk radio, cable news and the new media, conservatives were stuck with narratives driven by three TV networks and a couple of newspapers in New York and Washington, DC. Fox News, along with Rush Limbaugh and the conservative talkers and bloggers, finally changed that – and it would be a shame to allow anything, or anyone, to undermine the credibility of what was achieved at great cost."

At that moment, I wondered: what?
posted by doteatop at 3:22 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I understand Fox plans to replace him with Charlie Sheen, they stated they are looking for someone a bit less crazy than Beck.
posted by tomswift at 3:27 PM on April 7, 2011

Glenn Beck: I Didn't Want This Job Anyway.

Lawrence O'Donnell Rewrites Fear Mongering Glenn Beck!
posted by ericb at 3:33 PM on April 7, 2011

Today show with the birther nonsense.

As pointed out elsewhere - he's a US Citizen. There will be a shocking twist - the listed on paper Dad isn't the actual Father.

replace him with Charlie Sheen,

Naw, Sheen's too much into the '9/11 as reported in the book ain't what happened' thing.
posted by rough ashlar at 3:36 PM on April 7, 2011

In related (local) news: Contentious Talk Show Host Severin Fired -- "WTKK’s step may reflect a shift in radio culture."

" ... Although his show had struggled in the ratings in recent years, [Jay] Severin’s firing may signal a diminished appetite for incendiary talk. Michael Harrison, publisher of the radio industry magazine Talkers, said there has been a gradual change in the culture of talk radio.

'There’s less tolerance for frivolous, insulting, or offensive behavior,' Harrison said."

posted by ericb at 3:42 PM on April 7, 2011

I still think he's the world's greatest troll. He's been trollin them Repub's for years yo!
posted by chugg at 3:45 PM on April 7, 2011

Oooh, comedy! Conservative comedy! Because that always works out so well!

Glenn Beck's audience is already a comedy audience. They just don't know it.
posted by one more dead town's last parade at 3:48 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, to be fair, conservative comedy can sometimes (unintentionally) work in a Neil Hamburger kind of way.
posted by brundlefly at 4:05 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think Glenn Beck's show has been bad for our country and that he has lowered the national discourse. I do not agree with him, his ideology, and pretty much anything else he's done.

However, everyone throwing around oh-so-clever denunciations of "crazy", "batshit insane" and the like? All you've done is watch him on TV or listen to him on the radio. You’re not Beck’s psychiatrist. You do not have Beck as a patient. You can't diagnose him. Unless y'all are leading some kind of collectively super secret life, I don't anybody here has had the chance or the qualifications to assess Glenn Beck's mental health.

What do I mean? I mean that labelling Beck as “crazy”, "batshit insane", "clinically insane" is a not only cliched weaksauce, it's also an ignorant and pretty ableist thing to do. Whenever someone says some messed up stuff like that, what you're also demonstrating is how little you think of people with mental illness. If someone is experiencing mental health problems, I guess they shouldn't tell you, because you're not being kind at all about it. And odds are you know someone who either is getting treatment for a mental health issue, or looking for treatment, so using terms related to mental health as insults is not only making a shitty situation worse for someone you know, but contributing to a hurtful climate for those that have it pretty bad already.

Seriously, calling a pundit or demagogue or whomever that you don't like or disagree with doesn’t hurt tem, and it does not say anything of substance about them. I find it frustratingg that about someone who has so much bullcrap he's done and so many legit avenues for criticism, my fellow liberals and progressives fall back on ignorant-assed, ableist stereotypes.
posted by ShawnStruck at 4:14 PM on April 7, 2011 [9 favorites]

"You know, we all have our inner demons. I, for one – I can't speak for you, but I'm on the verge of moral collapse at any time. It can happen by the end of the show." –Glenn Beck, Nov. 2006
posted by furiousxgeorge at 4:22 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

However, everyone throwing around oh-so-clever denunciations of "crazy", "batshit insane" and the like? All you've done is watch him on TV or listen to him on the radio. You’re not Beck’s psychiatrist. You do not have Beck as a patient. You can't diagnose him. Unless y'all are leading some kind of collectively super secret life, I don't anybody here has had the chance or the qualifications to assess Glenn Beck's mental health.

The man is probably sane, but clearly amoral. Refraining from calling him names merely keeps us off the lowest rung of a ladder atop which he is balancing.
posted by dhartung at 4:28 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I would absolutely LOVE it if Glenn Beck ran for president. I would love to see him on the ballot for the R party. I would campaign to see that shit happen.

Then maybe when people show up at the polling stations and see:
1. Normal presidential candidate
2-6. who are these people?
7. Glenn Beck

They would realize that perhaps that R needs to fix a whole bunch of shit, rather than trying whatever kind of marketing they have been tricked into to choose the people who speak for them.

I mean come on, repubs! There are tons of awesome ideas behind your party philosophy. Even a bleeding heart liberal like me respects them...But why do you have to let the biggest douchebags in your party be the biggest mouths? Why do you pander stupid, shallow ideas to people?

Pandering to idiots means you will lose the election because your supporters show up on the wrong day to vote. Don't you understand that?

Please...try to smarten the country up.
posted by hal_c_on at 4:30 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

The candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.
posted by valkane at 4:42 PM on April 7, 2011

OK, here's some batshit insane for ya.
posted by nj_subgenius at 4:43 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

“You on the Left Will Be Crapping Yourself So Much”

You heard it here first, he's opening a restaurant.

sorry
posted by emmtee at 4:51 PM on April 7, 2011 [6 favorites]

Is there any chance they'll replace it with White Shadow reruns? I really miss that show.
posted by jonmc at 5:12 PM on April 7, 2011

Oh happy day! (slyt)
posted by Increase at 5:13 PM on April 7, 2011

The candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.

What about the candle that sputters and sheds no illumination?
posted by zippy at 5:21 PM on April 7, 2011

Re: the mental health thing.

See, I DO think Beck's mind is buggered in a way. I think he's got some sort of paranoid narcissism, or narcissistic paranoia, or something. Seriously, these conclusions he's drawing are not rational -- not sane. That's the problem. He's unbalanced (fair and balanced!) but he's loquacious, and like it or not, you can fool some of the people all of the time.
posted by Trochanter at 5:36 PM on April 7, 2011

Luckily, he's also really greedy. Same with Palin. If we ever get a TRUE true believer with a honey throat and a bully pulpit, the end times will be near.
posted by Trochanter at 5:50 PM on April 7, 2011

Beck is, if not clinically insane, at best amoral and at worst purely evil.

My brother has continued to run advertising for his business during local-ad-filled spots on his local FOX affiliate. The fact that he has so deeply drunk of Beck's haterade has very much contributed to the fact that my brother and I do not speak. How's that for protecting the morality and sanctity of family? As far as I'm concerned, the POS that is Glenn Beck can go crawl in a hole and pull the dirt over himself, never to be seen or heard from again, and the world would be a better place.
posted by Lulu's Pink Converse at 6:20 PM on April 7, 2011

If we ever get a TRUE true believer with a honey throat and a bully pulpit, the end times will be near.

No, in fact, because his influence would be diluted by all the charlatans competing for his niche. The people who would be influenced by Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin are not exactly discriminating customers of rhetoric.
posted by JHarris at 6:25 PM on April 7, 2011

Beck is Archie Bunker at UCLA circa 1968, he has just gotten stoned and listened to his first Jefferson Airplane album.

and he is still not convinced.

and and and he is like some guy who buys pirate gold and rents ex-SF guys and goes to a Steak House, Root Beers all around.


do I get the job$
posted by clavdivs at 6:41 PM on April 7, 2011

the AV Club has a great article comparing his show to Lost and The X-Files
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:43 PM on April 7, 2011

The Beck Rostra is up citizens.
posted by clavdivs at 6:44 PM on April 7, 2011

Is it a candle... Or a stick of dynamite?
posted by Artw at 7:16 PM on April 7, 2011

Oh my god, I love Jon Stewart so hard right now.

Seriously, turn on the Daily Show. He does a better Glenn Beck than Glenn Beck. Possibly becauseJon Stewart is still sane.
posted by misha at 8:22 PM on April 7, 2011

Yeah, it was a rare Daily Show. Stewart : Beck :: Fey : Palin

Although not so much in that imitation way, more in that capture the spirit way.
posted by hippybear at 8:37 PM on April 7, 2011

What is the opposite of "."?
posted by goethean at 5:07 PM on April 7 [+] [!]


*
posted by goethean at 5:07 PM on April 7 [13 favorites +] [!]


That kind of looks like an anus.

Oh. Right.
posted by LordSludge at 8:46 PM on April 7, 2011

Beck compared himself to Paul Revere in regards to his show ending. This is appropriate since Paul Revere was dismissed from the militia in much the same way Fox news has now dismissed Beck.

It is also appropriate that Beck does not know enough about the comparison to understand why it makes him look bad.
posted by J.W. at 9:33 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I propose at the time of Beck's death, everybody who comments on the post must use the *
He shall be the only person in history who got the whole Internet to say "Ass to you too buddy!"
posted by QueerAngel28 at 9:45 PM on April 7, 2011

Oooh, comedy! Conservative comedy! Because that always works out so well!

I'm anticipating wall-to-wall South Park, PJ O'Rourke and that guy who smashes watermelons with a sledgehammer?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:55 PM on April 7, 2011

Oooh, comedy! Conservative comedy! Because that always works out so well!

I'm anticipating wall-to-wall South Park, PJ O'Rourke and that guy who smashes watermelons with a sledgehammer?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:55 PM on April 7 [+] [!]

... footage of the homeless to Yakety Sax.
posted by gc at 9:58 PM on April 7, 2011 [6 favorites]

Yeah, it was a rare Daily Show.

Jon Stewart's Final Takedown of Beck: 1, 2, 3, 4.
posted by ericb at 6:20 AM on April 8, 2011

Good riddance. Can we now have a return to sanity?
posted by arcticseal at 7:03 AM on April 8, 2011

hal_c_on: "I would absolutely LOVE it if Glenn Beck ran for president. I would love to see him on the ballot for the R party. I would campaign to see that shit happen.

Then maybe when people show up at the polling stations and see:
1. Normal presidential candidate
2-6. who are these people?
7. Glenn Beck

They would realize that perhaps that R needs to fix a whole bunch of shit, rather than trying whatever kind of marketing they have been tricked into to choose the people who speak for them."

One word for you: Reagan. Here's another: Shrub

Many Dems felt the same way about the an actor running for President in '68 and '76. Then he won nomination in 1980 and took many folks by surprise. George W. Bush was widely reviled as an idiot. Yet he won twice. Different circumstances. Same casual dismissal / underestimation by his opponents. Same outcome.

I'd rather not take the chance of having Beck on the ballot. If he follows in Reagan and Bush's footsteps, he'd be a two term President.
posted by zarq at 7:53 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Democracy Now! interviewed James Rucker of colorofchange.org who led a major campaign against Beck.
posted by Burhanistan at 7:55 AM on April 8, 2011

Milton Berle wore a Ermine dress.
posted by clavdivs at 11:05 AM on April 8, 2011

I think about Palin the same way zarq mentions. When people say, "I wish Palin would run," what they really mean is "It would be fun to watch Palin lose." The problem is that while you could possibly see the first, there's no guarantee of the second. Both sides constantly underestimate their opponents. I was in MN when Hillary Clinton referred to the Ventura candidacy as "the sideshow." Guess who won?
posted by cjorgensen at 1:57 PM on April 8, 2011

I was in MN when Hillary Clinton referred to the Ventura candidacy as "the sideshow." Guess who won?

Oddly enough, I just ran into Skip Humphrey, Hubert's kid, who lost to Jesse as the DFL candidate. I jokingly refer to him as the near-government. It really is a shame, though, because Jesse was totally down with lowering taxes on the rich and giving the surplus "back to the taxpayers," as then-state-House-Majority-Leader Tim Pawlenty put it. (I don't know who he thought it belonged to when the state had it.) The rest is history: MN has a 5 billion dollar deficit while the middle class pays overall rates 2% higher than those in the highest income bracket.
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:17 PM on April 8, 2011

"near-governor" dammit!
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:19 PM on April 8, 2011