Glenn Beck joins Anonymous?

January 26, 2012 3:40 PM

Former Fox News host Glenn Beck has produced a video appropriating Anonymous' trademark style. It is unclear whether he is mocking the group or whether he seeks to join them. If "we are all Anonymous," then can't he be Anonymous, too? (direct youtube link, for those wishing to avoid Beck's site.)
posted by nobody (100 comments total)

for those wishing to avoid Beck's site

Boy, did you come to the right place!
posted by Hoopo at 3:43 PM on January 26 [10 favorites]

Oh, that's not going to make the actual Anonymous very happy.

I'm thinking I wouldn't want to be working for Glenn Beck in any sort of IT capacity right about now.
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:44 PM on January 26 [62 favorites]

gosh
posted by Anything at 3:44 PM on January 26

Idley?
posted by nathancaswell at 3:44 PM on January 26 [17 favorites]

How do you know that Glenn and his followers haven't been part of Anonymous all along?
posted by crunchland at 3:45 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Glenn Beck is provoking Anonymous? Dammit, I'm all out of popcorn.
posted by entropicamericana at 3:47 PM on January 26 [11 favorites]

*gets popcorn*
posted by crayz at 3:47 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Can't he just be a Pepper?
posted by maudlin at 3:47 PM on January 26

Anonymous responds (?).
posted by cmoj at 3:48 PM on January 26 [4 favorites]

I think this was secretly sponsored by people who produce popcorn.
posted by Anything at 3:48 PM on January 26 [49 favorites]

Man, I was enjoying having forgotten that this dude existed.
posted by EatTheWeak at 3:49 PM on January 26 [49 favorites]

His IT staff are currently weeping silently in a corner
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:49 PM on January 26 [14 favorites]

So what the hell is 'it', and 'the darkness'?
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 3:49 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

He can't very well be anonymous if he isn't now can he?
posted by zeoslap at 3:49 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

We're all anonymous.
posted by cjorgensen at 3:51 PM on January 26

EatTheWeak: "Man, I was enjoying having forgotten that this dude existed."

Boy he dropped out of site quickly, didn't he?
posted by octothorpe at 3:51 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

I thought we were all anonymous. Which is good, because I don't think we'll have any privacy laws for much longer.
posted by TwelveTwo at 3:51 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

Uh, that video is filled with batshitinsane. I think we could re-fight World War II with that stockpile of guano.
posted by wierdo at 3:52 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

glenn beck poking anonymous and mitt romney and the church trying desperately to keep the mormons looking totally normal could be hilarious. part of doxing beck could very well raise the profile on his religion.
posted by nadawi at 3:53 PM on January 26

And they say the religious right can't do comedy.
posted by seanyboy at 3:54 PM on January 26

And they say the religious right can't do comedy.

Oh they can. Just not on purpose.
posted by Celsius1414 at 3:54 PM on January 26 [14 favorites]

Next I want to see Glenn Beck fuck the with the Penny Arcade guys.
posted by cjorgensen at 3:55 PM on January 26 [26 favorites]

You know what I mean.
posted by cjorgensen at 3:56 PM on January 26 [15 favorites]

I'm thinking I wouldn't want to be working for Glenn Beck in any sort of IT capacity right about now.

His IT staff are currently weeping silently in a corner

UNPLUG EVERYTHING!
posted by JauntyFedora at 3:58 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Sorry, no Homers.
posted by zompus at 3:59 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

I was enjoying having forgotten that this dude existed.

That's why he's doing it.

I thought we were all anonymous.

On Metafilter, we're all pseudonymous (at least, I assume so unless I see your birth certificate). So, you can at least be sure that I'm not Glenn Beck. He doesn't have the attention span to establish a deep cover sock puppet by posting trivial comments over several years.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 4:00 PM on January 26 [4 favorites]

You just posted this to get an "EPONYSTERICAL!", didn't you.

Okay.

EPONYSTERICAL!
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 4:00 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

for those wishing to avoid Beck's site

A nice thought; however, clicking a link to Glenn Beck's You Tube channel is also supporting Glen Beck.
posted by washburn at 4:01 PM on January 26

washburn: I watch it in browser right from Mefi :)
posted by rebent at 4:02 PM on January 26

I'm jealous of Glenn Beck's success, too. But you have to admit he's a certified Truth Vigilante.
posted by mccarty.tim at 4:13 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Interesting. No one has mentioned them in thread, but if you're not logged in one of the Google ads is for Goldline. The association between Beck and that company is quite strong.
posted by Kevin Street at 4:15 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

Anyone notice with the voice over they replaced the onscreen "evil triumphed" with "evil thrived"? Give evil an inch and evil'll take a mile, I guess... so deeply, deeply bonkers.
posted by Pathos Bill at 4:22 PM on January 26

Wait...that's not how you spell "idly." Is Glenn Beck launching an anonymous assault on the English language?
posted by Dr. Zira at 4:24 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

ai bleev that anyone CAN BE anonymous, but if you know who they are, then they aren't.
posted by LogicalDash at 4:25 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Glenn Beck, more like: Glenn Blech
posted by TwelveTwo at 4:29 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Oh Glenn. So ending prayer in schools is evil? What happens when good Christian soldiers students are indoctrinated by paganist beliefs whenever they're in the minority?

Or should we just take the Cecil Rhodes way of "fuck the majority! I'm white!" in these matters?
posted by Talez at 4:30 PM on January 26

I was enjoying having forgotten that this dude existed.

That's why he's doing it.

This, this, this, this, this.

Attention seeker seeks attention. Film at eleven.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:31 PM on January 26 [8 favorites]

Well, I think I'm gonna mosey on over to that other place I used to go to and see what's going on...
posted by ambulocetus at 4:32 PM on January 26

So what the hell is 'it', and 'the darkness'?

Liberalism. Duh.
posted by asnider at 4:32 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

We are the 99.9%!
posted by Artw at 4:33 PM on January 26

Dr. Zira: "Is Glenn Beck launching an anonymous assault on the English language?"

He is the Oligarh of Anti-Spelling
posted by Copronymus at 4:40 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

Beck would love nothing better than an attack from Anonymous. His career is in decline and he could use the publicity.
posted by Trurl at 4:40 PM on January 26

I just found an unopened bottle of tequila in the cabinet today. I had no idea it was there, so it was like "Hey, bonus tequila! Awesome!"

Karmic balance is an asshole with magnificent timing.
posted by Saydur at 4:47 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

In other wackiness past its expiration date, there are still birthers.
posted by mccarty.tim at 4:50 PM on January 26

What? How? Is this like that plateau full of dinosaurs? Did explorers bring a Birther egg back?
posted by Artw at 4:52 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

From the birther link: Orly Taitz, a California attorney who brought the legal challenge, said she expects the president's legal team to fight his appearance in the Georgia court but by doing so would expose his vulnerability.

Judge: "The President has to come to court in Georgia!"
Obama: ORLY?
posted by King Bee at 4:54 PM on January 26 [5 favorites]

In other wackiness past its expiration date, there are still birthers.

I could have told you that. I was tricked into going to RedState the other night. Other things I learned about Barack Obama from that particular psych ward:

- He is Kenya's Stalin
- He is a Radical Muslim Imam
- He was taken to China and brainwashed a la Manchurian Candidate
- His birth certificate was faked by Solyndra officials
- He is having a secret affair with Hillary Clinton
posted by Mister Fabulous at 4:55 PM on January 26

Glenn Beck's YouTube channel has crashed my browser twice now. Anonymous: GET HIM!!!
posted by KokuRyu at 4:58 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

I'm jealous of Glenn Beck's success, too. But you have to admit he's a certified Truth Vigilante.

Can't tell if serious or not...but if by "truth" you mean "pseudo-conspiracy-based racist rants with no connection to actual reality" and by "Vigilante" you mean "con-artist huckster clown who's laughing all the way to the bank", then yes, Glenn Beck is a Truth Vigilante.
posted by zardoz at 4:59 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Best lulz troll in years

also please make beck already part of anon "surprise i ran the wikileaks DOS"
posted by klangklangston at 5:00 PM on January 26

also:

moralfag
posted by klangklangston at 5:00 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

People were joking about him having a mefi sockpuppet, so I decided to imitate the Scott Adams "certified genius" meltdown with his sockpuppet plannedchaos.
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:01 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Can't tell if serious or not...

mccarty.tim was sort of joking.
posted by cortex at 5:02 PM on January 26

DAMMIT WHY DO I BOTHER
posted by cortex at 5:02 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

So far it looks like they are ignoring him.
posted by ambulocetus at 5:07 PM on January 26

Orly Taitz, a California attorney who brought the legal challenge, said she expects the president's legal team to fight his appearance in the Georgia court but by doing so would expose his vulnerability.

On Taitz's website, the first comment on a post from last month profiling the judge in question reads like it must be parody, if only it were believable that a troll could come up with such an idiosyncratic comma-usage system:

This, is not good. He was at B.U. when Obama, was at Harvard. The two law schools, are right across the Charles River from, each other. Obama and Malihi probably knew each other (maybe from, attending Muslim functions together). You should, get this judge recused and get a judge, with an American name.

On the other hand, it's genuinely funny, especially the last line (especially on the website of an activist named "Orly Taitz"). My current guess: written by a true sympathizer, but with tongue partially in cheek.
posted by nobody at 5:11 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

- He is Kenya's Stalin
- He is a Radical Muslim Imam
- He was taken to China and brainwashed a la Manchurian Candidate
- His birth certificate was faked by Solyndra officials
- He is having a secret affair with Hillary Clinton

Obama 2012: He's Whatever You Want Him To Be
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:13 PM on January 26 [10 favorites]

It is unclear whether he is mocking the group or whether he seeks to join them.

I say neither. He's complaining about prayer being taken out of public schools, so I doubt he's really seeking to join them. I doubt he's mocking them, too--at least not in any overt way. It doesn't appear to be any kind of challenge to Anonymous either. Basically I think he's just trying to make himself look relevant by hijacking Anonymous' imagery for the "cool" factor.
posted by Hoopo at 5:14 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

>by hijacking Anonymous' imagery for the "cool" factor

Some call Homeland Security, Glenn Beck has a lot of hijacking to do.
posted by Catblack at 5:17 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

Well, he might very well be a part of Anonymous. Anyone can be. Spend an hour on /b/ (or just F5 it a couple times) and you'll see the entire political spectrum represented. So I wouldn't be surprised if he genuinely feels like he's a part of Anonymous, and is just going about things in a way reminiscent of last semester's preppy kid putting some safety pins in his acid wash jeans and drawing a giant anarchy symbol on the back of his lime green polo shirt.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:19 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

If Anonymous all started praying at once, could they DDOS God?
posted by dr_dank at 5:30 PM on January 26 [26 favorites]

whatever
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 5:48 PM on January 26

Looks like Beck's site has fallen to a DoS* attack.

*Denial of Sanity
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:48 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

Yeah yeah, I don't care about darkness or whatever this thing is about. I care about important stuff, I need to know where beck stands in the /r/pickle vs /r/churro war. Unless by darkness he is referring to churros? /r/pickle forever!
posted by Ad hominem at 5:48 PM on January 26

Or was it an EoP* attack?

*Elevation of white Privilege
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:50 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

he's a certified Truth Vigilante.

Yep, seeks out truth and murders it.
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 5:53 PM on January 26 [6 favorites]

Sorry Beck, Paul Carnes beat you to this schtick. See how well that turned out for him.
posted by narcoleptic at 6:00 PM on January 26

So, Beck is claiming membership in Anonymous? Really? Does that make him liable for all of the shit people would prosecute Anonymous for, if only they could find someone to prosecute?

"Mr. Beck, please explain how you came into possesion of the LOIC, and tell the court why you felt Visa deserved to be attacked in such a fashion?"
posted by Ghidorah at 6:05 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

No.
posted by facetious at 6:09 PM on January 26

Obama 2012: He's Whatever You Want Him To Be

Tis a sad day when one copies Newt Gingrich.
posted by rough ashlar at 6:12 PM on January 26

Does it really matter what an idiot claims to be? There is no truth, meaning, or significance to any statement he makes.
posted by HuronBob at 6:14 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

The same is true for a King, minus his kingdom.
posted by TwelveTwo at 6:16 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

A nice thought; however, clicking a link to Glenn Beck's You Tube channel is also supporting Glenn Beck.

It isn't monetized or anything, though, so not supporting him monetarily.

Was it linked from his site? No real indication on YouTube that it's even really him.
posted by wildcrdj at 6:18 PM on January 26

Yeah, It is on his site. The comments on glenbeck.com are pretty amusing. They are debating whether anon claims its name is Legion or if there are just like a lot of them. Because if Anonymous' name is Legion then Anonymous is literally a demon.
posted by Ad hominem at 6:23 PM on January 26 [8 favorites]

Was it linked from his site? No real indication on YouTube that it's even really him.

It was posted to the Glenn Beck YouTube channel, which appears to be his official channel.
posted by asnider at 6:26 PM on January 26

the Glenn Beck YouTube channel

Hold my beer and watch me vote.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:36 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Glenn Beck :
HEY.

HEY.

HEY.

HEY.

HEY.


PAY ATTENTION TO ME.




HEY.

HEY.


HEY.

Anonymous:

OK, what.

Glenn Beck:

LOOKATMELOOKATMELOOKATMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Anonymous:

...
posted by louche mustachio at 6:43 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

Because if Anonymous' name is Legion then Anonymous is literally a demon.

Or...?
posted by Sys Rq at 6:44 PM on January 26

Attention seeker seeks attention. Film at eleven on youtube.
posted by 445supermag at 6:49 PM on January 26

I am all for the American Legion. 25 cent beer and free onion soup.
posted by Ad hominem at 6:52 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Wait, now, I watched this. It wasn't very glen beck-y. At all. Actually, it was kinda anonymous-y.

Have they replaced the video already, or has beck gone all nice-y-nice-y (and yah, unable to spell idly)?

Are we sure this isn't, in fact, an anonymous attack?
posted by Bovine Love at 6:56 PM on January 26

Glenn Beck:

LOOKATMELOOKATMELOOKATMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The world would be a better place if Glenn Beck were a puppet controlled by Louis The Cat.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 6:58 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

Or...?

We are all Matter Eater Lad
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:39 PM on January 26

there's nothing anonymous about this it's that Beck idiot.
posted by the noob at 8:39 PM on January 26

One of these days, Glenn Beck is going to get someone killed.

George Soros, Van Jones, Barney Frank or one of those fuckers is going to stumble accidentally between one of Beck's minions and the television screen. Or maybe they'll sit their polished east coast ass right down on the plate of chicken wings. Or they'll stumble over the cord of the mid-00's Dell dusted with a fine coat of cheeto grime and pubic hair just as a download of GBTV is grinding its way through the machine's tortured circuits.

However it happens, the lizard brain will react instinctively. A pudgy hand will flop down to the quick release Desert Eagle mounted under the barcalounger and the offending libtard's head will disappear in a pink mist straight out of a Tom Clancy novel. It might even spatter against the shelf full of spine-cracked Tom Clancy novels that's leaning up against the peeling wood paneling opposite the shooter. The body will slump down against the go-bag stuffed with gold certificates and aerosol Brut deodorant cans. Or maybe it'll flop forward onto the stack of mom's collectible NIB beanie babies. That would suck.

Anyway, that blood, along with whatever else is matted into the carpet down there (cat shit, mountain dew, testors glue) will be on Glenn Beck's hands.

I hope he can live with that.
posted by R. Schlock at 8:40 PM on January 26 [4 favorites]

Anonymous responds (?)

God, I hope not. Ideally, they will just call him out for being a pathetic attention-grubber and leave him be.
posted by Edgewise at 9:01 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

There aren't enough LOLs in the entire fucking universe for this.
posted by d1rge at 9:11 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

- He is Kenya's Stalin
- He is a Radical Muslim Imam
- He was taken to China and brainwashed a la Manchurian Candidate
- His birth certificate was faked by Solyndra officials
- He is having a secret affair with Hillary Clinton

Obama 2012: He's Whatever You Want Him To Be

Has he been a woman named Freida?
posted by stifford at 10:38 PM on January 26

I don't understand how this message is supposed to work with Beck's core demographic; rural elderly people trying to figure out how to cut and paste.

And dammit, why should I have to click on that START thingy when I'm trying to TURN OFF my computer? THAT MAKES ME SO ANGRY!
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:21 AM on January 27 [2 favorites]

I think the real question in all this is whether or not Glenn Beck actually lieks mudkips.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:28 AM on January 27

And dammit, why should I have to click on that START thingy when I'm trying to TURN OFF my computer? THAT MAKES ME SO ANGRY!

Blame the elites.
posted by mattoxic at 4:19 AM on January 27 [1 favorite]

Oh, cry me a river, spudface.
posted by Decani at 4:56 AM on January 27

Because if Anonymous' name is Legion then Anonymous is literally a demon.

Jesus, they can't even get their Bible stories right! I thought they were supposed to be the Christian right? The story is of a man possessed by MANY demons who (plural) say to Jesus, "OUR name is legion, for we are many." In other words, "we have so many names because there are so many of us."
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:12 AM on January 27 [2 favorites]

Next I want to see Glenn Beck fuck the with the Penny Arcade guys.

You know what I mean.

Knowing what you mean and being able to scour the image it inspires from my brain with undiluted bleach and cleansing fire are two completely different things.
posted by Grangousier at 5:50 AM on January 27

"His operating system is unstable. He will fail." - Legion
posted by giraffe at 6:11 AM on January 27

If Beck really wants to be a proponent of the old hippy idea of Random Acts of Kindness, I guess I don't really have a problem with that.

If he's looking for a fight about what it means to be "religious" then he's fighting the tide of history.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:24 AM on January 27

Expect us.... after the break!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:34 AM on January 27 [1 favorite]

OT:
Because if Anonymous' name is Legion then Anonymous is literally a demon.

Thank you, Ad hominem. I never knew from where Mary Shelley cribbed that phrase in Frankenstein, though it obviously was supposed to be a recognizable quote. My lack of context for it (when 14) really bugged me.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:10 AM on January 27

On the same off-topic, I'd not really appreciated at the time just how much familiarity with cultural nooks and crannies I owe to my proto-goth friends in middle school who liked to quote the Bible, Shakespeare, Marx, HST, Vonnegut, etc., whenever they found a choice passage.
posted by hattifattener at 1:25 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

It was posted to the Glenn Beck YouTube channel, which appears to be his official channel.

Could be, I guess. I'm a little surprised it's not a partner channel if thats true, but its not like he'd have to do it that way. And it could easily have been created by some random staffer who hasn't figured out how to go through the process or something.

But he's definitely not making any money from YT views on this channel.
posted by wildcrdj at 7:31 PM on January 31