he is far from an idiot.

Yeah, you are correct. An idiot is a person of subnormal intelligence. Beck is actually a person of subhuman intelligence.

If I was a different person (like, say, a much more evil person interested only in filthy lucre) I’m sure fake preacher/church leader/political pundit would be the profession of choice in such a fear-strangled and politically polarized environment.

And lest one be tempted to suppose that this might somehow be mere coincidence, Beck had previously proposed a “9/12ers’” week of national prayer and fasting, to coincide with Yom Kippor of this year.

I’m 22 and have voted in more elections than people I’ve met in their 40s (I’ve voted 4 times going on 5 since I was able to vote). I try to be an educated voter because I believe in democratic values and free and fair elections. Americans take these things for granted. My father came from a country with extensive vote rigging and massacres of protesters.

On the contrary- Glenn Beck is never far from an idiot. He’s usually surrounded by them, in fact. Who do you think buys all his books?

Noisemaking, otoh.

I wouldn’t completely discount these buffoons’ ability to sway enough other buffoons into making bad things happen. We should call out buffoonery wherever we find it or it can grow amongst the ignorant like a virus.

The lead up to the Iraq war is a great example. The derailment of a single payer system in this country is yet another.

We need to stop letting these buffoons run rampant without an answer… in the end, this kind of rampant ignorance really does end up destroying lives here and abroad.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/106219/onion-news-network-victim-in-fatal-car-accident-tragically-not-glenn-beck

There truly is no harder thing than to have Glenn Beck outlive your child.

Beck and Hannity and Limbaugh and Levin and Savage and even Palin are not interested in governance. They pride themselves on having the simple solution to every problem (“Cut Taxes!”) as if lawmakers are simply unaware of the idea. “Freeze spending!” they scream and yet nearly half our budget goes to defense spending and anyone who dares suggest cutting it even one iota is a traitor.

The truth is, these people are interested in ratings, in selling book, in making a great deal of money off of the outrage (and in no small part, racial panic) of many Americans. It’s a game to them, and the more they win the more we lose.

We should be paying attention to the people writing and passing legislation- what they do, how they vote, who is sending money to them, and for what.

Let the showmen twist in the wind.

I really appreciate BB. It allows me to express my opinions to other people who can type and like to. But I’m not sure BB’s obsession with right-wing follies helps to prop up right-wing spokespeople. Fox News consistently outpulls, by a wide margin, the other cable channels nightly – not because it’s better, it isn’t, but because it’s unabashedly conservative among news outlets that aren’t. It actually is an alternative channel, as odd as that sounds. Were there more TV news shows that expressed conservative views, one would hope more intelligently, it would dilute Fox’s drawing power and people like Glenn Beck would be less noticeable.