I think I've figured out the purpose of Glen Bleck.

[reformist2]

Republicans are well aware their political positions hurt the poor and the middle class, and that nobody who is poor or middle class in their right minds ought to be voting Republican anymore.

But that's just it - nobody in their "right minds."

So one of the main objectives of the Republican propagandists has been to make sure that their voting base is NOT in their right minds. This means that a continuous stream of scare tactics and conspiracy theories need to be floated to keep their base in a constant state of fear and paranoia that will prevent them from ever voting for Democrats, no matter how reasonable they may sound. And as the economic imbalances grow worse and more obvious, the propaganda has to be ratcheted up, higher and higher. I'll start back in the late 1980s, when Bush I attacked Dukakis for being a crazy "liberal", as someone who might let hundreds of Willie Hortons out of prison and onto the street to rape and murder your children. It got worse during the Clinton years, when they floated all sorts of rumors of criminal activity - shady real estate deals, secret drug running, "Arkancides", even rumors about the death of Vince Foster and other White House officials. Nasty, nasty stuff. It would be hard to get worse than what they did to the Clintons. Fast forward to Obama Administration, trying to deal with the worst economic slump in over 70 years (caused entirely by Republican policies), and I need not tell you how poisonous the propaganda has become - that Obama's secretly a Muslim, a Socialist/Communist/Marxist who secretly is cheering on an Islamic "Caliphate" and the end of America as we know it. This is crazy, crazy stuff - and yet it appears to be keeping much of the Republican base in the fold.

So it doesn't really matter whether Glen Beck himself is nuts, or is just shilling for the party. The point is Glen Beck's shtick serves an important purpose in the long tradition of the paranoid style of Republican politics. The bad news is that it seems to be working. The good news is that if we can survive the current onslaught of craziness, we may finally see a mass exodus from the Republican Party. Because with Obama, the Republicans have shot their wad.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Not just Beck. That's the point of a whole lot of RW garbage.

[socialshockwave]

2. To me, he's just there to rant and rave

And the blind Republicrats are just following along merrily.

Oh, and don't forget - I've heard this from the lunatic fringe, people who would make Beck seem sane - that Obama is a satanist too.

So he's a Muslim Socialist Communist Marxist Satanist who wants an Islamic Caliphate.

[KT2000]

3. Rodeo clown

Keep the bull's attention on the clown while the cowboy does his thing.