Why all the Glenn Beck threads???

[airforceone88888888]

Is this guy really so important that DU needs all these Beck threads???

This site seems obsessed with him. I was out with my parents all weekend and I get home and check DU and it's BECK BECK BECK!!

Maybe if some of you got out once in awhile you'd have less time to spend sitting home on a saturday watching...of all people, Glenn Beck!

He's not that big a deal if you don't watch or listen to him!

[tabatha]

1. exactly

[IndianaGreen]

2. Emmanuel Goldstein

Both parties need a bogeyman to keep their troops in line.

[Onlooker]

3. Because he's trying to usurp progressive tactics for dangerous ends ...

... with a major, national rally that generates national enthusiasm and pushes government to reform. How often have racists gathered by the tens of thousands in Washington, DC? Glen Beck's Tea Party is a genuinely fascist movement, and if the economy doesn't rebound it will only grow in power. Let's not kid ourselves on that.

[airforceone88888888]

4. I just cannot figure out

what makes folks so interested in what this man says.

I've never understood it... and now it even happens here at DU...people here care what the hell he says!

We're the ones in power now...we should be talking policy and how to turn this economy around by 2012

[jefferson_dem]

7. I appreciate your deep concern...

Duly noted.

[lamp_shade]

5. Kick and rec

[Trajan]

6. Maybe you're not familiar with DU or other political forums ...

News stories fly through here like flash-fires .... Leaving little spot fires along the edges ...

Anybody who comes here and expects a lot or a little of something or another is almost always going to be disappointed ...

Get used to it ...

[phantom power]

8. I suppose everybody has their reasons. Mine is...

because I think he might be the "cornpone Hitler" that Kunstler warns us is coming.

:shrug:

[dkf]

11. Puhleeze. That loser?

You give him too much credit.

[phantom power]

12. Maybe. I think perhaps people overestimate what it takes to start an authoritarian movement.

Mr. Jones writes that he started the first day of the experiment (Monday, April 3 1967<2>) with simple things like proper seating, drilling the students until they were able to move from outside the classroom to their seats and take the proper seating position in less than 30 seconds without making a sound.<3> He then proceeded to strict classroom discipline emerging as an authoritative figure and improving efficiency of the class dramatically.

Jones closed the first day's session with a few rules, only meaning to be a one day experiment. Students had to be sitting at attention before the second bell, had to stand up to ask or answer questions and had to do it in three words or fewer, and were required to preface each remark with "Mr. Jones."<3>

On the second day he managed to meld his history class into a group with a supreme sense of discipline and community.<3> Jones named the movement "The Third Wave", after the common belief that the third in a series of ocean waves is last and largest.<3> Jones made up a salute resembling the one of Nazi regime<1> and ordered class members to salute each other even outside the class . They all complied with this command.<3>

The experiment took on a life of its own, with students from all over the school joining in: on the third day the class expanded from initial 30 students to 43 attendees. All of the students showed drastic improvement in their academic skills and tremendous motivation. All of the students were issued a member card and each of them received a special assignment (like designing a Third Wave Banner, stopping non-members from entering the class, etc). Jones instructed the students on how to initiate new members, and by the end of the day the movement had over 200 participants.<3> Jones was surprised that some of the students started reporting to him when other members of the movement failed to abide by the rules.<3>

On Thursday, the fourth day of the experiment, Jones decided to terminate the movement because it was slipping out of his control. The students became increasingly involved in the project and their discipline and loyalty to the project was astounding. He announced to the participants that this movement is only a part of a nationwide movement and that on the next day a presidential candidate of the movement would publicly announce existence of the movement. Jones ordered students to attend a noon rally on Friday to witness the announcement.<3>

Instead of a televised address of their leader, the students were presented with an empty channel. After few minutes of waiting, Jones announced that they have been a part of an experiment in fascism and that they all willingly created a sense of superiority that German citizens had in the period of Nazi Germany. He then played them a film about the Nazi regime. That was the end of the experiment.<3>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave

[wisteria]

9. We should be ignoring this clown-not bring attention to him.

Nothing we say or do is going to change his followers minds and as long as he draws people in the numbers he did yesterday, the press will continue to cover him.

[Fearless]

15. So what the likes of KO, Rachel Maddow, and Jon Stewart for instance is worthless?

There should always be a light shined on people's shit.

[wisteria]

25. Posting about Beck here is useless-what is the point?

And, shinning a light on people's shit, as you put it, gets you exactly where? It is better left up to pundits and other news media types. Coming from people like us who don't like the guy and what he stands for already, gives us very little credibility when trying to convince people. And, people on the right view Maddow and Oberman the same way we view Beck.

[Fearless]

34. Do you think that KO, Rachel Maddow, or Jon Stewart actually like these GOP people?

While it is true they have a medium with a large fan base, it does not mean that we shouldn't still work together to undermine GOP bull. It is our job, in my opinion, to help each other in this regard. The more light is shown on the true intents of the GOP, the lesser the power they can have becomes. Politics is about belief. Do you believe me? Do you trust me? Etc. While what we serve as is on a small scale to television shows and the like, our actions still matter and are still influential to those who read them.

[thelordofhell]

10. Because nobody has watched "A Face In The Crowd"

Beck is a farce

[wisteria]

26. Exactly. Entertainment at its worse. And, he is making millions off of all the smucks on both sides.

[golfguru]

13. Why so many Sarah Palin threads?

Palin threads outnumber Beck threads by 10:1.

[Fearless]

14. DU enjoys rallying points where we can all agree on something...

So let it be. We're tired of feeling argumentative all the time.

[woo me with science]

16. People were freaked out by the size of the crowds.

You have seen and experienced the microcosm of DU. People here get very used to having their ideas generally shared by others, and those who state conflicting ideas are quickly outnumbered or tombstoned. In this format, it is easy to develop a false security that the opposition is not very big or serious.

Photos of the event brought home for a lot of people the actual size of the threat this election.

It will fade in a day or two. But hopefully this rally serves as a wake-up call and a galvanizing force for all Democrats...especially this administration.

[wisteria]

28. The size of the crowd was manipulated all over the country.

My local paper sponsored 100 people who entered a contest to win a spot. And, the local Tea Party group in my area sent buses with close to 900 people. This is only two examples of how this was not a radom show of support for Beck and his cause. There were other organizations in my area who sent other buses full of people.

[woo me with science]

32. I knew there would be defensive replies like this.

It doesn't matter. Democrats bus people in for rallies, too.

It was still a very large turnout.

[ipaint]

17. The mosque at the 911 site was rung dry so now it's onto a stupid rally

quickly to be forgotten in the face of next weeks new shiny object.

Corp. tv and corp. msm dictate the dialogue for both sides. Everyone gets a role to play. Everyone gets to pick an enemy.

Keeps everyone busy while the heist of citizen's wealth continues unabated and in fact is aided by having to pick a side and defend it to the end regardless of what's right or democratic.

[PDittie]

18. Quite candidly

... this place is all some people have. They cannot do offline activism for the most part. (This is not an indictment of anyone's participation or lack thereof outside of DU, so don't take it personally. You'll be able to take offense in just a second ...)

And while our November electoral opportunities wane like summer's final fling, people are Lounging and Becking and titling another thread "You MUST read this !!!11" and Faux News Sucks" and other difference-making activities.

But hey, we will all check in here the first Tuesday evening in November and collectively whine. And once again be reunited in mind and spirit for the first time since January, 2008.

[pecwae]

19. Can't add much to that.

Tip of the hat.

[babylonsister]

20. Did you miss the rally yesterday? That's why. DU is tuned

in to politics, and that was political despite what beck said. I don't think there was a chance in hell of it being ignored, nor should it.

The teabaggers and the nutso fearmongers who work for faux are the enemy; to ignore them would be kind of silly.

But! this too shall pass. It always does around here.

[wisteria]

29. What does posting and commenting on it achieve?

It was a manipulated event-political although it wasn't billed that way and these people don't share our point of views on things. Calling attention to it here is a waste of time, IMO. Who are we trying to convince that Beck is a nut job on DU?

[Skittles]

21. I agree

I absolutely ignore him the way I do all blathering nitwits

[emilyg]

22. Agree. Brings to mind a quote by

Brendan Behan: There's no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary," We have given Beck too much publicity.

[Doctor_J]

23. Lots & lots of Limbeciles at DU

hate radio addicts and Fox "News" junkies. Also gun nuts, anti-labor, and anti-choicers. If you want to know why the party is so fractious, there is your reason.

[zulchzulu]

24. Well, you mad one too...

Jus' sayin...

[iamthebandfanman]

27. take ur own advice maybe? n/t

[saltpoint]

30. It only takes a few short minutes of a Beck video clip to

get the measure of what he's about, how he manipulates context, and how his propaganda ticks.

Beck is rolling in cash and that the public good is subverted in the process of his making that cash is of no concern to him. FOX News likely loves him because he is a value-added kook, effective on a variety of levels, in their general purpose of bringing down voters' faith in the democratic process, in the role of government, and in the gains progressives have made over the last several generations.

Beck is social malware. This past weekend he was loosed upon the media to erase the context of Dr. King's work.

Robert Bly warns that there are men "who are loosening the bolts on Noah's ark." Glenn Beck is one such.

I'm persuaded that he's not especially stable and so is given to this sort of self-promoting propaganda and subversion, but even more frightened that several thousand people attended the rally yesterday, all of them self-cast as "victims" of people with dark skin and bluer voting patterns than theirs.

And of course, Jahweh himself was trotted out to put the stamp of moral imperative on the event.

From our angle, Beck is newsworthy because what we seek to accomplish will have to navigate past the kooks and crazies whom he has convinced are victimized by people of color, pro-gay rights proponents, "the Government" in general, and the progressive worldview.

[Exilednight]

31. You hit the nail on the head when you said ...........

"He's not that big a deal if you don't watch or listen to him!"

He will go away when his detractors stop giving him a microphone. I am sure he will always have a platform on Fux news, but his national audience will start to dwindle once we stop attacking him. Every nemesis is only as big as their antagonist. Some people on this board compare his cult like following to that of hitler, but Beck, although a nutjob, is not nearly as dangerous as hilter was.

Anyone remember the minutemen? They were around during the mid to late 90s, and yes they still exist, but their numbers have dwindled after people stop giving them attention.

[ellie]

33. I know!

It is ridiculous. DU gives him too much power. Ignore him and he will go away.