Glenn Beck Remembers (?) the Alamo

In yet another rant on Fox “News” today, Glenn Beck lashed out at the media for what he views as persecution. He started by saying what we all know–”I’m not a journalist.” Then he claimed he was just “a dad, a private citizen trying to do the right thing.” Actually, Glenn, you are a public figure, not a private citizen. As for wanting people to lay off you because you are a “dad,” the last I heard, President Obama is a dad; and Michelle Obama, who Beck has also attacked, is a mother.

Van Jones, who was far more of a private citizen than one could ever consider Glenn Beck at the point that Glenn Beck attacked him mercilessly (and unfairly) is the father of a 4-year-old boy. That did not seem to sway Beck into leaving Van Jones alone. Van Jones was just trying to do what he thought was right.

Valerie Jarrett, someone else Beck regularly attacks, is a mother. No doubt many of the ACORN employees–filmed without their consent and some wrongfully smeared by Beck and his ilk–are parents. They are also private citizens, unlike Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck also whined that he wanted the media to stop looking into his past, including questioning his mother’s supposed suicide. Beck has often mentioned his mother’s “suicide,” which he said occurred when he was 13, as a pivotal moment in his life. Yet according to police records, his mother died in what appeared to have been a boating accident when he was 15:

The county coroner found no evidence of violence on either body. Police investigators told Tacoma’s News Tribune that the double drowning appeared to be a classic man-overboard mishap — a failed rescue attempt in which both parties perished.

No wonder Beck does not want anyone to talk about. It undermines his ability to use the story to milk sympathy from some of his viewers and to manipulate them with his confession of such personal events. Beck also whined that he wants the media to stop talking about how he is bad for the republican party or bad for the democratic party.

Guess what Glenn? It’s not just the media talking about it. Lindsey Graham is not exactly the media:

Asked what he thinks of another Fox News personality, Glenn Beck, Graham replied, “Only in America can you make that much money crying.” He said Beck is “not aligned with any party as far as I can tell. He’s aligned with cynicism. And there’s always been a market for cynicism.”  “But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers,” he added.

Peter Wehner, who ran the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives under President Bush, is not a media figure:

[Glenn Beck's] interest in conspiracy theories is disquieting, as is his admiration for Ron Paul and his charges of American “imperialism.” (He is now talking about pulling troops out of Afghanistan, South Korea, Germany, and elsewhere.) Some of Beck’s statements–for example, that President Obama has a “deep-seated hatred for white people”-are quite unfair and not good for the country. His argument that there is very little difference between the two parties is silly, and his contempt for parties in general is anti-Burkean (Burke himself was a great champion of political parties). And then there is his sometimes bizarre behavior, from tearing up to screaming at his callers. Beck seems to be a roiling mix of fear, resentment, and anger–the antithesis of Ronald Reagan.

Glenn Beck, you see, “is just a father, doing this for his kids.” And billions of dollars. And to fulfill his narcissism.

Perhaps most amusingly, Glenn Beck called Fox “The Alamo for the Truth.” Aside from the hilariousness of Fox “News” being a bastion of truth, there’s also Beck’s apparent moment of forgetfulness–everyone defending the Alamo died.  If Fox “News” wants to pretend to be the last refuge for truth and suddenly disappear, I am all for Fox News being the Alamo.

The real issue here, is not what Beck is calling “yellow journalism.” The real issue is that Beck is starting to realize that the world exists beyond his measly 2 million viewers/listeners and that the majority of people do not like Glenn Beck. He is starting to worry that the increasingly vocal opposition against him, which is now even gaining attention on Fox, is going to reach the ears of his devotees, turning some of his followers away from their self-proclaimed messiah. He is worried because even overseas companies are starting to pull their advertising not only from his show but from Fox, condemning Beck’s behavior:

We take the placement of our ads in individual programmes very seriously, ensuring the content of these programmes is deemed appropriate for a brand with our values,” a customer service spokesman is said to have written in reply. “Since being notified of our presence within the Glenn Beck programme, we have withdrawn all Waitrose advertising from the Fox News channel with immediate effect and for all future TV advertising campaigns.”

Sorry Beck. I don’t think the media will lay off any time soon. I guess you’ll just have to get some more Vicks to rub under your eyes so you can do some more fake crying.

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