Beck does not seek power; he seeks to expose its abuse. And in this, in the Age of Obama and a too-compliant media, he has proven extraordinarily successful. Were it not for Beck and his constant running of the videos exposing Van Jones as a crackpot racist conspiracy theorist, for example, few people probably would have heard of Obama’s “green jobs czar,” whose troubles the New York Times did not even deign to cover until after he had to resign. And Beck’s relentless exposure of the Acorn sting tapes, following his long campaign against that organization, brought widespread attention to the depth of Acorn’s corruption.
Indeed, it’s an excellent bet that the liberal journalists now wringing their hands about Beck, decrying his malign influence, would never have reported on the Acorn controversy, either, were it not for Beck and others on Fox—just as ABC’s Charlie Gibson, in his patrician above-it-allness, claimed ignorance of the story even after conservative viewers and listeners had been following it closely for more than a week.
Quite simply, at a time when conservatives find themselves so far out of power that all they can hope to do is stand athwart the Obama administration’s attempt to remake America yelling “stop,” no one has been more effective.
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amen.
Onager on September 19, 2009 at 10:19 AM
He’s good for traffic.
Interesting read. I don’t really think of Beck and Rush as doing the same thing, but the author’s point is well made with respect to targets of the left who undermine their charismatic leaders.
Spirit of 1776 on September 19, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Thank you Glenn. You are really taking one for the team.
Monica on September 19, 2009 at 10:22 AM
I wholeheartedly agree. I’ll take Time’s criticism of Beck seriously when I see them featuring Keith Olbermann or Markos Moulitsas Zúniga and asking the same question and coming up with the same answer.
Curmudgeon on September 19, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Move Greta or Hannity and put Beck in that spot.
BallisticBob on September 19, 2009 at 10:26 AM
I’ve been a consistently casual listener to GB for years. His attempt at exposing abuse did not start with the Obama administration…he was raising plenty of red flags about the economic situation well before the Lehman Brothers meltdown….he was taking the Bush administration to task for their expanse of powers…etc..
His style is not for everyone and I’m sure he drives people on the left crazy, but, I think he’s been consistent in his approach to trying to piece together a variety of data points in order to come to conclusions that most people (including everyone in the media) miss.
mctowler on September 19, 2009 at 10:27 AM
The people who say that Beck isn’t good for America are the very people who say that Olbermann, Maddow, and Matthews are just fine.
The latter have been race-baiting all week long — fueling fires that could end in tragedy. The left has been grossly irresponsible in its coverage of the health care debate.
Richard Romano on September 19, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Beck, ignore the ankle biters out there.
Keep doing what you’re doing.
And more.
artist on September 19, 2009 at 10:30 AM
That was a great piece by Stein. I’m not familiar with him but I get the impression he is a recent convert to the right side of life (pun intended). Can anyone enlighten me on his background?
KickandSwimMom on September 19, 2009 at 10:42 AM
I doubt Glenn Beck would be as successful as he is right now if the media was doing its job instead of being Obama’s acolytes. He’s filling a void for criticism of a president who is seeing almost no push-back from a media that was obsessed with smearing and criticizing the previous president. Unfortunately, this leads to Glenn Beck being a bit over the top and sexing things up a bit, but that’s what you get when the rest of the media tries to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.
Seixon on September 19, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Right on Harry! While I’m not a huge fan of Beck’s theatrics, which tend to go over the top, his message is what’s important.
By the way, I would highly recommend Stein’s books How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace) and I Can’t Believe I’m Sitting Next To a Republican.
J.J. Sefton on September 19, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Beck deserves enormous praise for his willingness to take on issues that he knows could destroy him if even the smallest thing goes wrong. Want to warn him though….don’t over do it Glenn. Go slowly and go carefully, pick your battles. The public, even the right wing public, is fickle and you’d do well to keep that in mind. We don’t want your voice to be lost.
jeanie on September 19, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Glenn Beck is good for America (at least now) because he is following in Ron Paul and the Founding Fathers’ footsteps.
The Dean on September 19, 2009 at 10:53 AM
If the media were doing their jobs there woudn’t be a need for Glenn Beck.
J.J. Sefton on September 19, 2009 at 10:54 AM
He nails it! Beck (like him or not) is pushing the envelope further than anyone and I mean anyone in the media to expose the corruption in DC. The rest of the Fox news team should be following his lead but alas, some of them seem to try to remain mainstream.
He is more responsible for the tea party movement than anyone. That has produced results on the left and right. Republican politicians are running to the right as fast as they can out of terror from the anticipated repercussions from the tea parties. The blue dogs have been running right too, merging to the center. And Ogabi is stymied as a result.
I give most of the credit for this situation to Beck.
Keep up the fight Glenn! We are with you! (at least most of us)
conservnut on September 19, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Harry was a child of the 60’s, a full-on liberal. But as he grew and matured his perceptions of world changed and matured – unlike the rest of the leftwing which is stuck in perpetual angry adolescence. Read his books and that will tell you all.
J.J. Sefton on September 19, 2009 at 10:56 AM
As has been oft quoted:
“If you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. If you’re not conservative when you’re older, you have no brain.”
Sugarbuzz on September 19, 2009 at 11:01 AM
EXACTLY! I always use that quote and it drives the leftistas nuts – ACORN nuts!
J.J. Sefton on September 19, 2009 at 11:02 AM
I think the word he meant to use was complicit. The media hasn’t been “too-compliant” they have been active and willing participants in the rape and destruction of our Society.
Bring back the Guillotine! (A guy can dream can’t he?)
mrpeabody on September 19, 2009 at 11:03 AM
I, too, use this quote often. Isn’t it a rephrasing of a famous Winston Churchill quote?
J.J. Sefton: Stein sounds like he has a similar background to David Horowitz. Horowitz is the one who is on a crusade to rid the colleges of liberal indoctrination. He grew up in a communist family, was a radical in the 60s, and came to see the light some time ago. Amazing how life experiences can change a person.
KickandSwimMom on September 19, 2009 at 11:06 AM
I like listening to Rush, but lately I’m starting to get really irritated with him.
Beck is down in the trenches fighting tooth and nail, Rush is still sitting in his comfy studio pontificating at large. I’m really starting to get disgusted with members of the commentariat that don’t want to get their hands dirty. Especially at this time in our history.
Sugarbuzz on September 19, 2009 at 11:06 AM
In all fairness to Rush, he is a major megaphone to the people with his massive 20 million audience. I frankly am grateful that he uses his platform to broadcast the conservative message. In my opinion, he is contributing enough.
KickandSwimMom on September 19, 2009 at 11:09 AM
What are you wanting him to do, exactly?
Spirit of 1776 on September 19, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Oh, and Rush’s parodies alone are great ammunition. They drive the left bat-sh*t crazy!
KickandSwimMom on September 19, 2009 at 11:10 AM
I actually know Harry somewhat peripherally (we share the same literary manager, and that is all I want to reveal). I don’t think his family background was anywhere near as radical as David Horowitz. But he most definitely was very liberal in his youth. As an aside, I think one of his relatives wrote Fiddler on the Roof. Nice guy, rabid Mets fan (like me) and an incredibly gifted writer, both fiction and non-fiction.
J.J. Sefton on September 19, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Fascinating information – about both of you. I will honor your wish and not press for any more information though.
KickandSwimMom on September 19, 2009 at 11:14 AM
There is a lot to this. One thing I have concluded, is that people are maturing emotionally and intellectually (if they ever do) later and later in age. I attribute this to our elimination of physical hardships and that survival is much easier in these modern times.
So people are remaining “Liberal” long past the point where life’s realities would have caused someone living at an earlier time in our society to mature and leave liberalism behind.
It is because of this “arrested adolescence” that I believe we should raise the age to vote to 25 minimum, preferably 30. Also, restrict voting to property owners and veterans, and, completely disallow anyone receiving public assistance to vote until they are off the assistance and have repaid the taxpayer through monetary repayment or the equivalent service by volunteering.
We are going to have to eradicate all remnants of the entitlement and victim mindset from our Society, or we are done. All of these sicknesses have been visited upon us by the Left under the guise of Liberalism. Remember, it’s for the children. Wow, since we’re borrowing tactics from the Alinsky playbook, we should use the IFTC tactic as well! Because really, it is For The Children!
mrpeabody on September 19, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Beck has been getting results and achieving ratings gold as a result.
Hellrider on September 19, 2009 at 11:25 AM
hagiography.
sesquipedalian on September 19, 2009 at 11:30 AM
City Journal is published by the Manhattan Institute, which is the only real conservative urban policy think tank. It’s put out some wonderful studies and was a big source of policy idea for Rudy Giuliani when he was Mayor.
rockmom on September 19, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Thank you Harry Stein! Beck is important for the movement. He’s done more than any of the elite have done in exposing the radicalism in this administration.
cubachi on September 19, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Love him or hate him, Beck has been a trench fighter against the Marxism of the current administration. He doesn’t just sit behind a microphone and flap his jaw like some others.
Percy_Peabody on September 19, 2009 at 11:41 AM
I like watching Beck, although sometimes he makes me wince, just a little. He’s doing the job that the lamestreams used to do, but now that we have a president in office whom they worship, they go into the “move along, nothing to see here, folks” mode. I hope it proves to finally be their undoing.
TeeDee on September 19, 2009 at 11:49 AM
The funny thing is: Glenn said the same thing this week. That the quickest way to make him fail or drop in the viewer numbers would be for the media to start reporting, ie. to spread out the investigative reporting among the networks and papers. He welcomes it. It would be a win-win, for both himself AND the country.
hoosiermama on September 19, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Me?! I’m not that interesting. Just stuck here in Stalag 17, along with Shnickelfritz.
J.J. Sefton on September 19, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Doesn’t the author get it? The media is the enemy of the state, they can’t be trusted!
jhffmn on September 19, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Brevity is the soul of wit, well, at least until you posted this.
daesleeper on September 19, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Outstanding.
RedNewEnglander on September 19, 2009 at 2:30 PM