In Defense of Glenn Beck
posted at 4:36 pm on September 26, 2009 by Michael van der Galien

Earlier today David SwindleJohn Perazzo wrote the best defense of talk show host Glenn Beck I’ve read so far. As regular readers of my own blog PoliGazette know, I’m not exactly a Beck-fan – although not an enemy either. To summarize, I have argued on several occasions that ‘serious conservatives’ should tolerate Beckbut distance themselves from him publicly nonetheless.
However, John convinced me today that Beck should not merely be tolerated by conservatives but publicly celebrated.
A thorough researcher who does plenty of homework in preparation for his program, Beck has perhaps done more than any other broadcaster to make Americans keenly aware of so many vital facts that few others in the media have ever even mentioned. For instance, he has stressed the immense significance of Saul Alinsky, the late godfather of radical “community organizing” — and probably the single most formative tactical influence on Barack Obama during his years as a political neophyte.
Alinsky’s blueprint for social upheaval and revolution largely eschewed any form of confrontational defiance that might scare off or alienate ordinary Americans. Instead he stressed the need for revolutionaries to mask the extremism of their objectives and to deceitfully present themselves as moderates, until they could gain some control over the machinery of political power. No source, anywhere, offers a clearer or more comprehensive exposition of Alinsky’s tactics, and by extension of Obama’s campaign strategies, than DiscoverTheNetworks. Glenn Beck has helped bring this information to the American people, presenting it in a way that everyone can understand.
Beck also has done a magnificent job of bringing to light the vitally important, though not widely understood, Cloward-Piven strategy — a key tactic of the left.
In recent months, Beck has driven home vital revelations about so many significant people and organizations on the left: the Supreme Court Justice and promoter of ethnic politics Sonia Sotomayor; the Harvard professor and racial grievance monger Henry Louis Gates; the America-hating communist revolutionary Van Jones; the Apollo Alliance on whose board Jones sat, and whose environmental recommendations have a profound influence on President Obama; the former Weather Underground terrorist and current Apollo Alliance board member Jeff Jones; the FCC Diversity Chief who seeks to deal a death blow to conservative talk radio, Mark Lloyd; and most recently the Tides Foundation, funder of an anti-capitalist animated video that is being shown to schoolchildren across the United States.
Although there is more in John’s post – much more even – the main point can be summarized in one short sentence: without Beck, the Obama administration would not have had to deal with any controversies.
Without Beck the far left would not have been exposed.
Many would undoubtedly have liked it to be different but the FrontPageMag editor is right. Beck is the only national figure willing to take on the extreme left and to prove that Obama has ties to them and may even be one of them.
That’s it; it is time for conservatives to stop criticizing Beck and to give him credit for helping the conservative movement take on the most progressive individuals ever to be in charge of the most powerful country on earth.
Cross posted at PoliGazette.









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I wholeheartedly agree with this and it is nonesensical for people like Mark Levin to going to attack Beck. Beck may act silly, but that’s all that it is an act. His substance is real and people better pay attention to really the results of his diggings, rather than be caught up in a game of got ya, as we saw with the whole frog thing. Beck gets that things like these are complicated and people have short attention spans, so he uses props and entertainment to keep people’s attention. But his message is not in doubt as far as the insidiousness of this administration with its ties to these radical groups funded by George Soros. George Soros ultimately would want nothing else but to remove the only stabilizer that exists in the currency markets and that’s the control the U.S. Treasury has by default because of the dollar. In a world without the Dollar as reserve currency Soros would be king. So to all conservatives, you don’t have to agree with Beck on everything, but let’s find like cause with Beck’s endeavor to keep the light on these cockroaches on the left.
milemarker2020 on September 26, 2009 at 5:21 PM
Glenn Beck is an American patriot.
publiuspen on September 26, 2009 at 5:40 PM
Beck is absolutely fantastic when he is connecting the dots and exposing commies and corruption, but he is just awful when he begins to proselytize (and get emotional and whine and cry).
And I can’t stand it when he claims that Republicans are no better than Democrats – an absurd conclusion, particularly since one will not find the types of people Beck exposes – Communists, Socialists, Alinksyites, Anarchists, ACORN foot soldiers, Cloward-Piven strategists, et cetera in the Republican Party.
Buy Danish on September 26, 2009 at 5:56 PM
How any on the right can be down on Beck, the only guy who has the balls to call out the Obama administration and the progressive left, is beyond me.
rickyricardo on September 26, 2009 at 9:28 PM
Buy Danish, I think Beck is referring to all of the spending under Bush and Bush’s lack of enthusism of building a border fence.
rickyricardo, absolutely correct.
My $.02 worth.
cjs1943 on September 26, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Beck is a Patriot and speaks the thoughts of many Americans. He is a clear and present danger to not only the liberal media, but his counterparts who don’t have the courage to take on this out of control government on a daily basis. I pray he has great protection.
MalindaH on September 26, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Levin only goes after Beck because of the lack of attribution. Levin read Rules for Radicals in 1981 when he joined the Reagan Administration and found boxes of Alinsky’s books in Americorps’ offices. From all appearances, Beck echoes Levin’s shtick on a regular basis — without any attribution.
Beck would do himself a lot of good to credit those who give him his ideas.
Look, anyone who contributes to the conservative movement is to be congratulated. That includes Beck.
directorblue on September 26, 2009 at 10:42 PM
I agree. There may be a few little things I don’t like about Beck, but if he was perfect, he wouldn’t be human. I’m thrilled that he has exposed so much that would have sat unread on DiscoverTheNetworks. Until he started covering things like Cloward-Piven, etc, I was beside myself wishing SOMEONE would talk about it.
Daggett on September 26, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Beck IS one of the best. I’d take him over O’Reilly, any day. Bill O’Reilly used to be a lot better, but it seems his head has gotten a lot bigger and he seems to go to really stupid lengths to appear impartial.
Star20 on September 26, 2009 at 11:08 PM
Maybe my personal experience is more unique than I had ever thought. To me, Glenn Beck is merely publicizing things I’ve known about for years – decades, even – due only to my totally ordinary, unremarkable low-rent public school education.
I mean, it’s not like the Left has kept any of this a secret. My professors taught us this stuff straight out. Alinsky, Chomsky, Che, Mao, Liberation Theology, Eduardo OMFG-do-we-have-to-discuss-this-tedious-frickin’-Open-Veins-thing-again Galeano, et al.
Forgive me, but I’m kinda surprised that Beck is even making waves with what has been standard required high school and university fare for nearly half a century. The surprising part is not that these destructive, anti-freedom, anti-American philosophies have made their way to the White House but instead that it took so long.
Gilda on September 26, 2009 at 11:21 PM
Beck is talking about Republican politicians, who have shown themselves no better when it comes to fiscal discipline, selling out America in favor of special interests, or even as part of the Washington game.
There are a very few politicians on either side who stand up for American, constitutional principles. That’s what he’s talking about!
Now, when you’re talking about the people, well, that’s a different story.
stonemeister on September 26, 2009 at 11:47 PM
Consider yourself very lucky. As was illustrated so clearly in that now-infamous “Mmm, mmm, mm, Barack Hussein Obama” elementary school chanting debacle, what passes for public school education these days doesn’t even resemble what you (or I) experienced.
.
America owes a debt of gratitude to Glenn Beck, Breitbart, O’Keefe, Giles, etc. for bringing these destructive philosophies to light for many less fortunate folks whose education fell short in so many crucial ways.
NightmareOnKStreet on September 26, 2009 at 11:57 PM
His style is not my cup of tea, but I think it has drawn in those who might normally skip all things political. Ditto his painting Republicans & Democrats with the same brush. In my opinion, they are both winning strategies, as his ratings attest.
NightmareOnKStreet on September 27, 2009 at 12:07 AM
For the most part I can’t see why there is so much hate from the right for Beck, only reasons would be because these people are pissed they aren’t where he sits now.
Beck might be a bit wacky and ready to blow a fuse, but it gets people to watch, and I think that pisses people off. That he uses comedy and off the wall anticts to get viewers, and then shows them the way.
Beck is doing the dirty work, he did it on CNBC and now on Fox, which means a lot more then doing it on a radio show that only republicans listen to.
He does the work Hannity and Bill’O won’t touch and thats what we needed on Fox during this past November.
Beck, Brietbart, hell Greg Gutfeld, are people we need out there, guys who will counter attack whatever BS the left is trying to push and they don’t care if people hate them for it.
Rbastid on September 27, 2009 at 12:27 AM
And I can’t stand it when he claims that Republicans are no better than Democrats – an absurd conclusion, particularly since one will not find the types of people Beck exposes … in the Republican Party.
The top 4 senate recipients of campaign funds from Fannie and Freddie were Dodd, Kerry, Obama, and Bob Bennett (R-UT).
The GOP is much more connected to these vile organizations than they’d like to admit.
Compound that with how the GOP turns a blind eye to what the Left has been up to. Why was it Beck who revealed that the Apollo Alliance wrote the Stimulus? Why didn’t Kyl or Hatch or Boener?
Why haven’t the GOP been exposing the Left during all this time? Because they’re too busy kvetching about how the Dems don’t follow parliamentary procedure to the letter of the law.
Or because they don’t pay attention.
Or because they don’t see anything wrong with it.
Or because they know that if they start making waves, their own boats will eventually overturn.
If “Good Men” do nothing while evil infests those halls, they’re just as much to blame.
dicentra63 on September 27, 2009 at 2:20 AM
I can’t see why there is so much hate from the right for Beck.
I can. It’s for the same reason they looked down their noses at Sarah Palin.
Glenn never went to college at all, never mind an Ivy. He never wrote for National Review. He never met Bill Buckley.
He’s a self-proclaimed “rodeo clown” without an ounce of sophistication, and it’s killing the T. Coddington Van Voorhees among us.
And worst of all, he talks about GOD without apology. He asks us to fast and pray for the Republic.
How gauche!
dicentra63 on September 27, 2009 at 2:25 AM
Of course, you’re free to believe that and I agree with your sentiment, but that does not mean that Beck is “hurting the conservative movement.” You don’t have to agree with everything he says, or even to appreciate what he says or how he says it, for him still to be an important addition to the movement nonetheless.
And despite his melt downs (which are probably acted anyway), that is what Beck is.
Agreed – which is why the left is doing its best to destroy him.
If that’s the case he should call Beck out… But why not do that privately? Why ignite a media firestorm that hurts rather than helps the conservative movement?
Michael van der Galien on September 27, 2009 at 3:30 AM
Bravo, Michael. I couldn’t agree more. After festering in this country for over 50 years, the Alinsky-Cloward-Piven left is finally being exposed. Is it any surprise that they’re out to destroy him?
petefrt on September 27, 2009 at 6:10 AM
Ya know, after the Revolutionary War, and before the cowards, leftists, sycophants, and PC police came on the scene, we had a few words that described folks like Beck.
“Good old American patriots.”
Now that the lessons taught in our fight to be free are criticized in our government schools, and the aforementioned traitors have taken over our society, we have had to come up with some different words to describe good old American patriots who stand up to them.
“That guy has balls of friggen steel!”
God bless Glenn Beck et al! They re the ones suffering the slings and arrows of persecution so the rest of us, who choose to sit anonymously behind our computers, can ACT like we have “balls of friggen steel”.
Here’s to Michelle, Ed, Glenn, Rush, and the thousands of others who are the faces of our modern day patriots.
Typically, these patriots would point to our troops as the real heroes. And they’d be 100% correct! And our troops would refuse the accoladesalso. But that is the spirit of true Americans and thank God for it too!
God speed guys! We need you more than ever! The spirit of King George has risen from the grave to enslave freedom loving people once again. And he is resurrected in the persona of Barack Hussein Obama.
csdeven on September 27, 2009 at 7:47 AM
Glenn Beck is not part of the establishment and the establishment is not republican or democrat. The establishment is a non-partisan gang of theives that only seek to expand control through a more powerful government.
More Republicans than we would like to admit fit into that Category.
Explain why Reagan was NOT able to roll back the government…he was merely able to slow the growth. Here let me help you. Republicans did not WANT to reduce the government.
Well pretty soon the government will be forced to reduce…when the currency collapses we will have less government programs.
Only problem is that we will have finally found a war that Liberals are willing to fit with no rules. Wait till the government statists/liberals/compassionate republicans discover that the government is losing power. THEN they will fight a war with no rules. THEN they will fight to win, no holds barred. THEN they will torture to win. Unfortunately for us they will be doing all of this crap to us. Weeeeeee
Well it’s one two three what are we fighting for…
don’t ask me I don’t give a Damn…next stop is
PierreLegrand on September 27, 2009 at 7:52 AM
Flesh that out for me, would you? Assuming Beck heard Levin talk about Alinsky, if Beck then goes and reads and researches Alinsky for himself, he ought to credit Levin whenever he mentions Alinsky? And Levin is rightfully pissed if he isn’t mentioned? Is that about right?
Pablo on September 27, 2009 at 10:42 AM
csdeven: the only thing that’s worrying me is that there are so few willing to take heat from the left.
Michael van der Galien on September 27, 2009 at 1:57 PM
Yes, he’s talking about things like TARP for which there are legitimate arguments both for and against (despite Beck’s rigid positions to the contrary).
That is very different from the Democrat Party which is positively infiltrated with Socialists/Communists/Anarchists/Leftists/Statists who have no love for this country and thus want to “fundamentally change it” into their own image.
Buy Danish on September 27, 2009 at 6:10 PM
“That is very different from the Democrat Party which is positively infiltrated with Socialists/Communists/Anarchists/Leftists/Statists who have no love for this country and thus want to “fundamentally change it” into their own image.”
Yes, it is different, but I think what Beck is saying that the Republican Party is not helpful in furthering Conservative / Libertarian objectives. The GOP is part of the problem. As Bush and Nixon demonstrated, one can be a Republican and NOT a Conservative. I am no longer a Republican because it was more important to me to align my beliefs behind Conservative ideology than a political party. If the GOP wants my money or my vote, they’ll have to work for it.
LA Conservative on September 27, 2009 at 11:08 PM
Need we repeat : is there some form of jealousy at work here? Beck is taking on tough questions and uncovering uncomfortable anwers– something many mainstream Rep. pundits and politicians have not had the backbone or foresight to do.
ProfShade on September 28, 2009 at 10:26 AM