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Good morning Netizens…
I nearly always chafe myself when people, not knowing my true mindset, accuse me of being one-sided in how I approach politics. I listen to a lot of diverse views on the body politic, and more often than not I do hold an opinion, based upon my perceptions. What I am going to do this morning is just one of those “touchy issues” as I freely admit I have never been a true-blue believer in most of what the Fox News Network broadcasts as their version of the news. Despite having said that, I will also admit freely that what views they hold of President Barack Obama should always be defended, as it is part of the American discourse we call freedom of speech.
In this Fox news/opinion broadcast, courtesy of Youtube, we have Glenn Beck, who holds the position of being the Fourth most-popular talk show host in America and a Mormon, attempting to sell the concept that our country is most-certainly on the road to Socialism, if not Communism, and although I believe he does a better job of it than perhaps Rush Limbaugh, I question some of his postulates and theories. Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuwgHNtyD54
However, I do submit that some of what Beck is saying is painfully true. Isn’t some of what our government is considering to do about our bank fiasco some form of socialism? After all, the government is planning to buy out the assets of certain financial institutions, aren’t they? However, on the flip side of this coin, we have a quote attributed to Beck in which he says, “I am a conservative who happens to not be a Republican.” Elsewhere, he identifies himself as “Libertarian-leaning.”
Suggesting that a sitting President of the United States has communist tendencies is not necessarily forbidden fruit, simply because he has the right to express such an opinion, however inflammatory it might be. However, that does not mean I have to necessarily believe everything he says.
After all, Beck asserts he is a “self-educated man” who “spent more time in the parking lot than in class.” Admittedly as a former alcoholic and pothead, as far as I have been able to discern, Beck has no formal college education, but has a gift for biting humor that normally would anger people from such Liberal institutions of higher education as Berkeley. He doesn’t make me necessarily angry. Sometimes he scares the bejesus out of me for like Rush Limbaugh, he has a huge groundswell of public support. Other times, such as today, he makes me think, and I believe that is as important as almost anything the government has to say.
Dave
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richard on February 06 at 5:04 p.m.
An interesting video Dave. But what made it even more interesting, and with some irony, was that just as that video concluded I watched a clip from the Stephen Colbert show where he was showing in rapid fire, clips from Democrats and then TV journalists, completing this sentence about the economic crisis … If the stimulus bill is not passed … ”
It then showed everyone from Nany Pelosi to Harry Ried and several journalists from Anderson Cooper to Merideth Viera sounding like Obama’s echo, rattling off … “it will be a catastrophe,” “it will be devastating,” “it will be the worst crisis in memory,” etc. One TV anchor even said, “it will be Armageddon!” If you can believe that!
Demagogury? It seems both sides are very adept at it. it is very discouraging, however, when media becomes a presidential mouthpiece for his demogoging and fear mongering.
thawtfulreader on February 06 at 8:59 p.m.
“Sometimes he scares the bejesus out of me for like Rush Limbaugh, he has a huge groundswell of public support.”
Huge groundswell of public support? According to whom, Faux News?
The limited polling that’s been done on Rush is fairly negative, with a 51% negative rating, only Bush the Shrub does worse, at 59%.
“As the table above shows, Limbaugh’s unfavorable rating among all voters (51%) is higher than any other Republican except George W. Bush (59%), although Sarah Palin (47%) and New Gingrich (48%) earn negative marks that fall within the margin of sampling error of Limbaugh. Nonetheless, it should be clear that Limbaugh has a different image than “conservatives” (34% unfavorable), Fox News (35%) or John McCain (37%).
…”
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/the_limbaugh_brand.php
Also noted is that according to a different survey, Rush’s approval rating by Republicans is only 44%, with 33% unfavorable.
How these facts translate into a “huge groundswell of public support” is simply a myth, albeit accepted my many casual observers of politics as the myth is widely propagandized.
And Glen Beck? There’s your PERFECT example of the dumbing down of America. Pompous wining arse.
richard on February 07 at 12:45 p.m.
I learned many years ago NEVER to take counsel from those who depend on “facts” and “figures” to support their non-thinking, absolutist views. (And even more so when they quote bumper stickers and Keith Olberman)
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
Benjamin Disraeli
thawtfulreader on February 07 at 8:15 p.m.
And yet, Richard, you cite not once, but TWICE, (and erroneously) a figure that 85% of the population according to Gallup polling thinks Obama is getting a pass from the media to support your distorted opinion.
Could you be ANY MORE disingenuous?
I’m sure you’ll try.