Beck's version of 'Thomas Paine' compares Obama's budget to Pearl Harbor and 9/11
By David Neiwert Saturday Apr 11, 2009 5:45am
Yesterday's Glenn Beck show on Fox News will probably go down as some kind of benchmark for broadcast insanity. The entire hour was devoted to exploring Beck's thesis that America is marching headlong into fascism. I'll have more on that later today.
But the most otherworldly moment came when Beck, near the end, introduced a segment featuring an actor supposedly playing Thomas Paine -- but Paine reading Glenn Beck's words. Um, OK. We've gotten accustomed to the incoherent and bizarre in Beck's shows, so we played along after a bizarre, rambling introduction about Paine being his great-great-grandfather.
The entire rant was disturbing by any reading, especially since it was essentially a call for an uprising against the Obama administration, via next week's "Tea Parties". But there was a really odd note early on:
In an unprecedented moment of citizen response not seen since December 7, 1941, millions of your fellow Americans will bring their anger and determination into the streets.
Eh? Not since Pearl Harbor Day? But really, he's not saying that the Obama stimulus plan is like Pearl Harbor, is he?
Yep:
Your complacency will only aid and abet our national suicide. Remember, they wouldn't dare bomb Pearl Harbor, but they did. They wouldn't dare drive two planes into the World Trade Center, but they did. They wouldn't dare pilot a plane through the most sophisticated air defenses in the world and crash into the Pentagon, but they did. They wouldn't dare pass the largest spending bill in history, in open defiance of the will of the people*, but they did!
OK, I think it's safe to say that Glenn Beck has now jumped an entire mountain of sharks, waterskiing atop a pyramid with Pinky Tuscadero and the gang.
And the craziest thing about this: Beck will find a way to top himself next week.
*[Um, not exactly.]
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Glenn Beck said something nonsensical and unhinged...
society.
that get to blast whatever they want while screening out the callers that would call them on their lies and propaganda.
is one of the Sharks. A crazy, drooling shark, but all the more dangerous for it. One might well say Beck "speaks 'Shark'" and he's collecting a Shark Force to slay the...uh... everyone I guess. 'cept maybe the Pilot fish, who think they're sharks.
I agree with Evet 1,000%!!!
See the link of Beck Sponsors and contacts below:
BOYCOTT BECK'S SPONSORS
[aslo see: www.boycottfox.com]
He is inciting people to violence. This is akin to the use of the media during the Nazi "night of glass", the Bosnian Serbs ethnic cleansing campaign and the Rwandan genocide. In each case the media was used to incite violence through fearmongering, villificantion and violent rhetoric.
This is not a 1st amendment issue. This is like yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, or egging on a bully to pound someone to death on a street corner. Both are accomplices to a crime and criminal acts.
Beck's sponsors are bankrolling this abuse. If we can't hold them accountable in a court of law, we CERTAINLY CAN hold them accountable in the market place
WRITE!!
"A controlled mass media. Under some of the regimes, the mass media were under strict direct control and could be relied upon never to stray from the party line. Other regimes exercised more subtle power to ensure media orthodoxy. Methods included the control of licensing and access to resources, economic pressure, appeals to patriotism, and implied threats. The leaders of the mass media were often politically compatible with the power elite. The result was usually success in keeping the general public unaware of the regimes’ excesses."
Fox is the most zealously fat-cat Republican and blantantly anti-Obama medium around. Fact!
www.foxboycott.com
www.boycottfoxsponsors.com
there might be one near you and the local connection might work for a lot of businesses who are often just trying to have an ad on the big stations and think of beck and crew as entertainers and may have no idea of how much they piss off the community.
So when does George Washington & Thomas Jefferson show up & kick te crap out of Beck?
to the US from France after he got imprisoned for being on the wrong side (ie losing) after the revolution and nearly executed, then apparently pissing off Napoleon. Jefferson did this even though Paine was held in low repute in the US for attacking the character and loyalty of George Washington.
Actually he wasn't imprisoned for being on the wrong side, he was on the right side. He was for the French revolution. He was imprisoned for being against the execution of the King, due to his opposition to capital punishment.
Yet another liberal value of Paine's that goes right over the heads of the rightwingers and libertarians who are always trying to claim him as their own.
These guys trying to claim Paine know nothing about him.
(The conservatives of the day hated Paine, and made his last days miserable).
Here's a few other Paine values:
An abolitionist a hundred years before slavery ended.
Supported women's rights as well as animal welfare.
Proposed an early type of welfare system for young adults and the elderly.
Was pro-science and anti-superstition.
While he believed in God, he despised religion in general and Christianity in particular.
The vast majority of historians consider Paine to be 'America's First Liberal.'
Tough luck rightwingers. You lose again.
Quotes:
"My own mind is my own church. All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself than this thing called Christianity."
"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good."
- Thomas Paine
is that Thomas Paine was a socialist who believed in crazy ideas like a Guaranteed Minimum Income and Agrarian Justice, which essentially says that private land owners have a moral responsibility to use their 'ownership' to provide for the needs of humanity - namely the poor.
he was a pirate. I think Beck's lying his ass off.
I just wish this boob would wiki, at the least, the people he claims inspire him. Or should we take his claim of Paine parentage at face value and claim Beck is a pacifist socialist?
organized religion.
Don't confuse us with reality!
but this is the United States. Where this kind of stuff is considered "normal".
from 1000 stations that are ignored by those who's candidates and causes it attacks 24/7/365
no wonder the GOP dictates the flavor of america and the trad media
...to conger a coterie of ex-Presidents to smite the Evil One.
Oh no he didn't.
He did not just go there.
He did not just hijack Thomas Paine.
I KNOW he did not just hijack Thomas Paine...
Thomas Paine spoke out against Christianity and the elitist control of the government. There's no question where he would stand on the last eight years of American flirtation with fascism and theocracy.
Beck should have gone for Alexander Hamilton.
Was made a year or more ago,Beck has hijacked several anti GOP/Bush videos
Sat, 04/11/2009 - 07:03 — deistpaladin
Why not send that to FAUX news?
Except maybe not the Alexander Hamilton part.
Glen Beck has a pool of "writers", and possibly one of them went to college! And accidentally learned there was a revolutionary named Thomas Paine who wrote a book! Who said insightful and inciting things! Just like Beck!
Why, they're practically twins!
on this site than the people who actually believe his crap.
Beck believes it. Every single word.
after a while.
to fly planes into US structures?
Um, wasn't the Bush administration warned that just that very thing could happen? Something about a Presidential Daily briefing that was not taken seriously enough? Something about FBI agents warning that terrorists were taking pilot training?
As seen by this and the link to Huffington, Beck ignores the facts that don't neatly fit into his plans for a revolutionary uprising (and higher TV ratings).
that Al Qaeda was planning to hijack airliners for that very purpose his response was "O.K. you covered your ass!"
Those words don't sink into the neurons within the cranial cavities of the Beck Types.
An excellent article written by David Neiwert Thursday Apr 02, 2009 on Glenn's (et al) propaganda efforts can be found (of all places!) right here at C&L - "Projection much? Glenn Beck warns: 'Fascism is on the rise'"
It's time for Rupert Murdoch to be called in to the White House for a sit-down. He needs to be made to understand a few things.
that 90% tax would come in handy here...
"it's time for Rupert Murdoch to be called in to the
White HouseGitmo for asit-down(stand up for 48 hrs). He needs to be made to understand a few things.Since when did it become anti-american to identify yourself with the political philosphy of your choice. Are the Beck types saying that American should not have anymore free choices in their American existence. Has it, in their menial mental process, now become a world of my way or the highway. If so, the majority of us should show them the door.
I am a proud socialist when it comes to health care. I am a proud conservative when it comes to my children and grandchildren. Am I a communist when I believe that our community must act in concert to address the criminal element among us?
are worried now that Obama is never seen without his lapel flag pin! They are the ones who bantered and bitched about his lack of a pin, remember?
Google again for a refresher, "Facism Anyone!"
on the news that Thomas Paine himself will be at the Tea Parties as well.
I live in Salt Lake City Utah which is about as conservative and pro Beck as there is supposed to be in the country. I have a job where I mingle among a large and diverse group of people and have a pretty divergent group of friends and acquaintances with a varied look at social and political issues. But with all the potential for it I have had only one occasion where anyone even remotely referred to Beck and that was a 64 year old grandmother with no outside interests other than her church, saying she listens to him while driving to work. So coming here and seeing post after post after post on this guy makes no sense to me whatever, and considering the amount of space given to the FOX brand of news, which I likewise never hear about, it doesn’t seem prudent to spend any time here anymore and I will stop coming to this blog.
There are liars and there are criminals but the ones here are not worthy of my time or attention.
Bye.
Don't let the proverbial door hit you on your ass on the way out!
Buh-bye!
kick you in the ass.
Ignoring these people won't make them go away. Sure, I'd love to believe that they're irrelevant, but they keep sending messages to all of the gun-toting freedom-fighters out there, justifying theirincredible hatred and rage.
that requires constant vigilance, sad to say.
Go to his 912 web site to get a feel for what his followers are saying, then come back and tell us he is not worth covering.
His followers are about as extreme right as you can get.
I am definitely not far right and I believe that what he has to say is important. Since when has it been criminal to protest government strong arming? I did it when Bush was in office and I'm doing it now. If you take a look at the Republican and Democrat parties you would realize that there isn't much difference between the two. They both pretty much say the same thing these days aside from a couple minor differences.
But the problem is a lot of people on his sight are way out there on the fringe.
Beck promotes violence and the 912ers are tuning in.
Maybe he needs glasses.
You are misconstruing his method. He maintains that non-violence is the way to go. He says it repeatedly on many of his shows. Anyone who turns to violence is just as dangerous as a terrorist. Nothing I have seen on his show's make me want to go out and embrace violence. That's just plain ignorance.
Telling the people to "rise up" and have another "revolution" isn't inciting violence?
Hm... Because what comes to mind when I hear "rise up" is torches and pitchforks... and "revolution" is always bloody....
And are you trying to incite armed rebellion? Beck is.
Here is bob quakenboosh. He doesn't like the topic of the thread. But he posts on it anyway. Simple solution bob. Don't comment on the threads you don't like.
Bye
Lets just ignore Beckass and Hope he stops or goes away.
The more simple minded folks buy into this BS.
Ignoring them won't make them go away. I wish that would be all it took to make them disappear. But that's like pissing into the wind. When it blows back on ya, it's your own fault.
on display in response to bobquackenbush. Way to go guys.
After the last eight years and their consistent defense of the Bush administration no matter wth they did, I have absolutely zero tolerance for their screeching about government "taking over".
It's all hollow BS, which if you want to listen to that is your prerogative. I do not. They should have thought about government having too much power while they were ensuring Bush got all he wanted :(
They are simply left with what they allowed HIM to usurp.
Diverse views??? The guy just whined that he didn't like the posts here whined "look at me, look at me" and then said "I'm never coming here again". Not much for diverse views.
ricky-- you obviously don't get it yourself. He's basically saying Beck and ilk are harmless, so what's the fuss? That's how we got 8 years of Bush. That is what C&L is all about: calling these liars out.
It's not OK and we OBJECT.
You should ask the families of those three cops in Pittsburgh is he's irrelevant.
Beck's level on this. But you are getting there.
Watched Beck and posted his videos around on white-power sites.
That shows absolutely no connection at all.
he posted one video on a white-power site. And that was about if I remember right Beck commenting on guns being restricted. If you take talking about restricting gun rights as causing the shooting you must also blame Obama, Holder, Hillary and half the politicians in DC
You are sorely misinformed, sir.
Did you see the article yesterday (or the day before...) about how our US Attorney General is talking like any sort of gun laws are not going to be enacted?
I blame the entire country and it's 200-year love affair with guns.
Your entire culture is permeated with violence and guns. I can't turn on the TV without seeing guns being fired on half the shows. So I turn it off. How many CSI and FBI shows are there? I don't watch violence on TV.
One video too many. How many of those do you/would you/have you posted? I would hope none. I don't think that you have become unhinged. He had.
I enjoy hearing whatever ridiculous craziness Beck is saying, & I believe his unhinged followers do take him seriously, so he's worthy of the attention he gets from this blog. Eventually, one of these crazies who goes on a shooting spree will leave behind irrefutable proof of what inspired them & show how dangerous right-wing rhetoric truly is.
One of those crazies DID go on a shooting spree.....in PA. Obama will take his guns, you know....
A lot of people thought that about Hitler. And just as many of the German Rich thought they could control him, and use him for their further enrichment & power. Just as Murdoch and the execs of our "Media" think they can control their trained monkeys, Limpagh and O'R and Beck. ALL these people need to be stopped.
I'm Media deregulation ASAP. It'll help quite a bit.
Don't let the sagebrush scratch your @$$ on the way out. You actually think anyone but rightwingers CARE wth you think about us?!?!
Get over yourself and stay in Utah....gawd!
Love it or leave it. Came from the right. Small mindedness flows to the bottom of both sides of the hill.
To save us from ourselves!
There's no love it or leave it going on here. It's called FIX IT.
This is why I come here so that I don't have to listen to people like Beck and others. I want to know what is going on but I don't want to have to listen to them. So like others here, don't let the door slam you in the butt.
No one wants to say, "I heard it on Fox news," they want you to think it is original thought, and they are clever and in-the-know. The giveaway is when they spew the talking points.
As I calculate it conservatively at 30 years per generation, that GG Grandfather would have been born during the civil war and would be 160 years old. This guy is delusional.
but how could you possible use the word delusional in a post about Glenn Beck.
I just e-mailed the Thomas Paine Historical Society (info@thomaspaine.org) and asked if it is true that Beck is Paine's great-great-grandson. Paine lived from January 29, 1737, to June 8, 1809. I looked for online but haven't yet found a formal society of Paine's descendants.
based on very brief research, Paine had no children. He married but had left his wife before immigrating to the colonies. I find no reference to him remarrying after his first wife.
Apparently he fathered only one child, who died at birth. I did a little research and came up with the following:
Common Sense and Related Writings
Thomas Paine
Edited with an Introduction by Thomas P. Slaughter
2001
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ls0x-NyF-HYC...
"In Sandwich, Paine met Mary Lambert, a waiting maid who was the daughter of the local excise tax collector, and who, according to local tradition, was "a pretty girl of modest behavior." They married in the town's Anglican church on September 27, 1759, when Thomas was twenty-two and Mary a year younger. [...] Paine apparently expected a dowry with his new wife and was greatly disappointed when one did not materialize.
"Whether it was financial disappointment, drinking, sexual dysfunction, or just his temperament, we cannot know, but Paine abused his wife from a very early stage in their marriage. "Two months had hardly elapsed," George Chalmers heard, "when [Paine's] ill usage of his wife became apparent to the whole town, and excited the indignation of some, with the pity of others." Since spousal abuse was very common, very rarely prosecuted, and largely uncommented upon during the eighteenth century, there must have been striking qualities to this case. [...] Paine was an infamous wife-beater in an age when such infamy was not easily achieved.
"Thomas and Mary Paine lived in poverty for about twelve months in Sandwich[...] Shortly thereafter, Mary died in childbirth, as did the child she bore. Rumors circulated that Paine's abuse resulted in a premature delivery and accounted for his wife's death. [...]
"Paine remarried in 1771, at the age of thirty-four. His new wife, Elizabeth Ollive, was eleven years younger than Paine."
Long story short, he abused her, too, and legally separated from her after she couldn't take any more. Rumor had it that after three years he still couldn't consummate the marriage. He was also a heavy drinker and was not very trustworthy in financial matters.
Dang! As Pappy Boyington once said, "Scratch a hero and you'll find a bum." I guess Paine's "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" will have to compensate for his personal failings...
So, since he didn't have any children, Glenn Beck can't be his descendant.
i have never watched beck on tv or on here,so im not talking from his view point, but this depression was a planned happening, under clinton americans were encouraged to use credit cards , every other day thier were at least two offers from credit card companys in my mail box and im sure it was the same with many others here, and when bush got in the banks were sending me big deal offers filling up my mail box every day, many got hooked by these sceams got thier ass over extended just like they the corporations intended, bush got rid of this countrys surpluses, encouraged these companys here to export our jobs and the equipment to manufacture thoes product in other countrys ,china india mexico ect ect, obama vowed to cut off tax breaks for these companys that are leaveing america , and just like allways it just talk! as long as obama allows these corporations to jack us around outsourceing our large factory jobs were screwed, he offers you shovel ready jobs that so far have not happened , but the banks are getting thiers , hes spent his time not setting up green or shovel ready jobs but visiting europe begging the europeans to join in on his continuiation of the bush cheny wars ,but they arent buying it ! they never bought it with the exception of england and a few small countrys, as it now stands america once again pretty much is the only country interested in depleteing its military for a bush idea! this ressions no different at this point then the last ones under raygun and nixon , with the exception of involveing the banks and financial institutions , and right now this governments useing snow shovels full of the tax money were borowing from china and other countrys foolish enough to lend it to usand gineing it to the rich bastards who own the banks, shovel ready jobs will not save this country, they wont produce any permanent jobs with benifits , at most thier may be some small factorys formed but these factorys will not absorb the huge masses of unemployed , green jobs well whos going to buy solar pannels made here ? not the low paid workforce from shovel ready jobs, trickle down econimics is here to stay!
of the chamber of commerce in China and owns several golf courses there
Good read tyree. I have to say, you're spot on.
thnx edwin i appreciate your opinions!
is that one of the state legislatures down South, either Arkansas or Alabama, can't get a Thomas Paine Day resolution passed because opponents of the bill object to honoring Paine because of his comments about the Bible.
In the 1970's the Texas House passed a resolution honoring Albert DeSalvo for his work on population control which was introduced by a member to prove his colleagues did not pay attention to anything.
Looks like Beck will lose some fans there.
Beck comparing Democrats in congress to Al Qaeda and the Japanese empire..I would be outraged but its just Glenn Beck being his usual insane self
I think FOX NEWS and the GOP need to crack open the Gospel of Don Henley, find their inner Glen Back, and stomp a mudhole in its ass, walk it dry, piss on the brat to irrigate the hole all over again, and then walk it dry some more!
Do FAUX newsy-guys complain about how often they're on C&L?
"Hey, no fair, you were on two more times this week than me!"
"introduced the concept of minimum pay!"
He crapped all over religion. Anyone point this out to the moron?
I've never read Payne, and I'm begining to think I should.
But as for crapping all over religion beck's obvious answer is, "Well, we don't have a state church."
Funny thing though is in the wording of the I amendment it doesn't say church, sect or denomination, just religion:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
I think Christianity as opposed to Judyism, as opposed to Zorroastrianism certainly qualifies as an establishment. But religious zealots of our day would abridge our speech, our press, our right to assemble, our right to petition the government if it's against their "traditional values."
PRAISE BOB!!!
he doesn't want people to make religion a part of this. That is what the forefathers wanted. Remember in America it doesn't matter what faith you believe in. Why would it matter what Paine's views on religion were? This is about government not one's faith.
People like Beck disparage people who disbelieve or at least believe in separation of church and state CONSTANTLY.
So for Beck to come out and use a person who agrees with his opponents on religion is rare, to say the least, and absolutely not his MO. Normally, he would slander and spew against Paine for a few days, and THEN bring him out to speak!
Paines ideas on government don't exactly compliment Becks any more then his religious ideas do.
I know cable wasn't covered before under the Fairness Doctrine.
Maybe it could under a new version, since there's still the alternative of partisan blogs.
However, I'm begining to think that all FAUX talk-shows should come with the disclaimer, "Opinions may have no bearing in history or facts."
Then you'd have Beck, Oreilly, Limbaugh on ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN. Or didn't you think about that? And thought that it would only apply to Fox.
beck, rush, hannity ride the talk radio bandwagon of coordinated uncontested repetition that does the groundwork for all the crap the GOP has laid on the US the last 20 years. fox just put visual whipped cream on the lie turd pie talk radio bakes up every day.
and it only works because few real calls get past their screeners to point out their fantasies. they have a monopoly and are not allowing progressive talkers to compete - there are many blue states and areas with NO progressive talk, all RW talk.
or legislation that would mandate they take real calls- you want to use the public airwaves then you have to take real calls
start your own radio station and then you can put whatever you like on the public airwaves. Nothing in the law stopping you from doing so. And how are they not allowing "progressive talkers" to compete? How are they stopping them from getting backing and starting their own broadcast station. They are more than welcome to start their own station and compete all they want. If as you say that there are many blue states and areas with No progressive talk radio, sounds like the market is wide open and should be easy to get enough listeners to get advertisers to pay. Which is what they the "right" stations are doing. How do you think they afford to stay on the air. The govt is not paying them to do so. And yes they are Public airwaves. The public has a right to access them which you may do. By starting your own station. What gives someone the right to demand to use someone else's property ie the transmitters and broadcast booth? Hum sounds about like, since I have a right to access a Public road and I don't have a car, I get to take yours to use. But only half the time otherwise it wouldn't be fair.
A quick google will show that it isn't all that easy to get a progressive show on stations when most are owned by the right, as they are today.
The one network [if that is the correct word], or station, which began in NY was, a year or so later, thrown out when a conservative [can't recall which one now] bought it out and replaced the line up with conservative talk. It HAD BEEN the progressives flagship station......happens more than one would think, and all around the country. Even blue states have plenty of red areas and progressives don't get into those places.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v7...
"Today the chief executive officers of the 23 corporations that control most of what Americans read and see can fit into an ordinary living room. Almost without exception they are economic conservatives. They can, if they wish, use control of their newspapers, broadcast stations, magazines, books, and movies to promote their own corporate values"
said it would be easy, just that it can be done. And why would they sell out?
"...start your own radio station and then you can put whatever you like on the public airwaves.."
Well, licenses cost money, radio stations cost money, what with antennas and all that equipment and persons to maintain and operate it, they need promotion and advertisers, not to mention the cost of the music or opinion broadcasts.
Its easy for a multi-Trillion-dollar international Corporation. Not so easy for a single person or group.
Thats why Blogs are so wonderful! In fact, the blogs are doing pretty much what you suggested. If you dislike the content you can -gasp!- start your own Blog!
cost money. Which is why I said start your own or get backing. But just because it costs money, why should the people who have paid for the equipment be forced to have it used against their wishes? Like my road analogy, yes the roads are public, but because I don't have or cant afford a car, I have no right to take yours, even for only half the time. Or even a trillion dollar corporation's vehicles.
And I agree Blogs are wonderful, but blogs cost money too, hosting charges, bandwidth domain fees etc. but there are blogs out there on both sides that moderate what can and cannot be posted on them. Some have very understandable rules such as keep all language pg13, some also censor anything that goes against what they post. But it is their site and they pay the hosting fee for it, so its their choice what they allow on it. Would it be okay for a group of conservatives to demand half of this site for their own use to promote their views?
We're letting YOU stick around, aren't we? :-P
for allowing me to post here. Have I ever said its my right to be here? Or that I or others of my view have to have as many entries on this blog? I never said this site censored opinions, I said some on both sides do so. And if the mods here decided to ban me from posting they would be well within their rights to do so.
The MSM and the gov. education system mmade sure we never heard the warning.
Thanks to Al Gore for inventing the internet
Abe told us ""I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to
tremble for the safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of
corruption in High Places will follow, and the Money Power of the Country will
endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the People, until
the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed."
Abraham Lincoln
So did the former President of the United States (and former General of the Army) Dwight D. Eisenhower
“ A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction...
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together'
Now it's a little late and just a few have all the money,but we must give it our best to try to correct it
what a load of crap. yeah i'll put it on my credit card.
limbaugh was subsidized like fox was- they paid to get him on. once he was on and most of the big stations were bought up we were fucked- it's not a game- democracy is greatly damaged by that monopoly, abusing pubic air waves mandated to be used for the common good.
there are many examples of progressive programming pushed off while doing well. progressive talkers have shown very competitive, even beating the likes of limbaugh, hannity , oreilly but not being given the same voice or opportunity on an even playing field or even where most voters are blue. NY city can't even get real progressive programming! as for money it has been a very stupid strategy by dems to ignore talk radio but it may not have helped much since it's all catch up now.
and do you really think talk radio, 95% RW -a pack of lying racist sexist ignorant chickenhawk blowhards, and proven completely wrong about our most important issues, reflects the market for talk radio? you must actually believe them.
limbaugh and hannity don't make 600 MILLION $ for selling flooring and steak- they make it for threatening politicians and selling war, deregulation, and global warming denial. public airwaves. might makes right and money buys speech are antithetical to democracy.
the GOP knows it's nothing without talk radio as a monopoly. too bad the dems don't know what's been beating them and our democracy with an invisible 2x4 for 20 years, since reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine.
the RW talk monopoly is the main reason we're in this mess. the coordinated UNCONTESTED repetition allowed them to take lee atwater national and 24/7/365 and the best part was progressives, strategists, media analysts never listened to it and never had access to transcripts so they missed it. it has been an invisible 2x4 for rove and the RW 'think' tanks and the GOP. they were framing with a nail gun and the dems had rocks. they didn't know they were playing without a front line because it gave them headaches to hear it. so they turned the dial and blamed shifting american values instead of a bunch of chickenhawk blowhards lying, turning molehills into mountains, and visa versa from the biggest soapboxes in the country with an often captive audience of a crowd the size of the one that voted for obama. the talk radio monopoly was the difference the last 20 years, the reason democracy stopped working and bipartisanship became impossible.
all done from public airwaves monopolized for a propaganda machine broadcasting ignorant fools who's positions are so indefensible none of the major RW talkers can do a show without a call screener to protect them from the truth.
try listening to hartmann or malloy - oh yeah, smart, intelligent, even wise, funny talkers are impossible to find in most parts of the country but the paul reveres in reverse are everywhere. market forces my ass.
"The entire hour was devoted to exploring Beck's thesis that America is marching headlong into fascism."
What could Obama do to combat these loose allegations? How about:
1. Repudiate warrentless wiretaps.
2. Clearly repudiate all possibilities of torture. Back to the military handbook.
3. Lift the veil of secrecy on black sites and work with the international Red Cross to document closing them.
4. Prosecute the Bush administration for war crimes.
5. With the knowledge clearly documented from the Bush White House prosecutions, issue a formal apology to Iraq for a warrentless war of aggression on trumped up allegations.
6. Adopt an illegal immigrant policy that focuses on harshly targeting employers instead of scapegoating foreigners or adopting domestic para-military campaigns against them.
7. Instead of proclaiming you will issue "fewer" signing statements, make it clear you understand that the routine use of signing statements has become a perversion of the separation of powers that should have congress making the laws and the executive branch executing them.
8. Set an example that you understand business and government united into one entity is a problem by hiring fewer wall street and industry insiders as advisors.
9. On that note, have the balls to fight for a universal health care system like every other first world nation enjoys. If, like other first world nations, it means taxing the rich more and feeding the military/industrial machine less with fewer wars, so be it.
A few of the above should be no-brainers since they are just the law. Which is to say:
10. Bring respect for the rule of law back into executive government. Don't say things like you "just don't have much interest" in pursuing some prosecutions.
Those are a few things I think Obama could do. Obama has demonstrated hard work in his first three months by removing some of the silliness of the Bush regime in areas like stem cell research, and they will help ensure that the "trains run on time," but is he really reversing the Bush regime's march to fascism? I think he needs to hear louder shouting from the people that too much of the Bush regime's day-to-day policies have entered into the Washington routine and we won't stand for it. In fact, we won't even stand for some of the decade's old traditions of military/industrial graft because we no longer have the fat to feed into those flames of greed and it is draining our nation to death.
I think right now your complaint is against the so-called Imperial or Strong Presidency, it's mine too. It doesn't appear to be fascism under Obama, or people like beck and his idiot fringe would be routinely called out as traitors etc. In fact, accoding to the news the banks executives are compaining about chafing under his rules concerning how they spend government bail-out money.
They should have done a better job running their businesses then. I don't necessarily support the bailout but am willing to give him a little time to see if what he does will work. If it doesn't, I'll be the first to say so...
Because I don't particularly care for either party and so feel free to criticize when I think they are wrong. I just don't have a lot of tolerance left for those who whine now after defending everything Bush did for eight years; none in fact.
you put it very well, its to bad your not president id vote for you any day!
I will add in:
11- Completely withdrawal from IRAQ and Afghanistan.
12- Investigate once and for always; what really happened in 9-11 since most of the world know there is a lot of to explain. As Representatives and Congressmen Gravel, McKinney and Kucinich demand.
13- To Remove all rockets the NEOCONS put in East Europe and to close most of the US 700 Military bases around the world.
14- Achieve by pressuring the Zionists in Israel a Two State solution as the UN Mandates since 1967
Until the government doesn’t do all that, I will not consider it real CHANGE. Will you?
that worked out well the last time
and as the majority of americans (surprise, if you spend all your time on liberal blogs) support israel and do not want our government pressuring them more than now...how does obama working unilaterally show less of a unitary exec
If only the people knew the truth about Israel it would be a completely different story.How Israel pressures and tricks us instead of the other way around
that compels them to play dress up?
Could be woist.
Tim Curry could still be wearing his Fredericks of Hollywood lingerie.
Have you seen Tim Curry lately?
in his many fine roles. He had more range than the Rover.
Did he get this idea from Montgomery C Burns who hired an actor to play Charles Darwin to justify the existence of a three-eyed fish found in a river near the Burns nuclear reactor, named Blinky?
The fish, not the nuclear reactor.
Beck got his indicators wrong again - remember it was Sinclair Lewis who said
'When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
when it comes to Beck and the Tea Baggers. 95% of Becks audience and the Tea Baggers had their taxes cut. This proves if you repeat something often enough the morons will believe it.
If there is any significant turnout for their "tea-bag" parties (f'ing idiots), and if there is any media coverage, I would like that to be the one question asked over and over and over and over:
"So, you are outraged about Obama's tax policy of giving tax cuts to 95% of Americans. So, I can safely assume you make more than $250K per year?"
Next question: "If so, why don't you get your teeth taken care of?"
They are confusing "taxation without representation" with "losing ana election".
They can TRY to do something about it in 2012.
Peace.
definitely wasn't a tax cut for me and I can guarantee that I make well under $250k a year. Wasn't that part of his campaign promises? No one making under 250K will see ANY of their taxes increase under my administration?
Weren't you just ranting about personal responsibility anyway?
Oh, no, that was the entire right-wing... You all look alike! :-P
Americans must pay more taxes (see debt), but no one wants to say it or do it. Get set for tons of backdoor taxes and user fees. (They're already coming.)
FYI
http://www.bartleby.com/133/
Here's my favorite Payne quote already:
"The one (society) encourages intercourse..."
just wow. . . First the 'Thomas Paine' guy has been pushing YouTube video's for a while - they usually show up on Renew America and other paleo-conservative sites. The fact that he, or his or Beck's fans, have no understanding or knowledge of the historical Paine simply speaks to the low level of education in our country. The historical Paine was a great champion or reason and strong advocate for deism. His book "The Age of Reason" is generally accepted as the Deist Manifesto.
At this point we have to accept that Beck is either charlatan on the level of PT Barnum or that he is simply clinically paranoid. In either case, it is sad that anyone gives him a national forum to spout his ill-informed, hatefilled, rantings.
"...and sending a message to our children and our grandchildren that being an American is not an entitlement. You never earned it. You never deserved it. It was handed to you on a silver platter by men and women much better than you and I. Well, now you have the opportunity to earn your right to be an American because you're losing your country because you're losing your country and you can do something about it. Do not allow your reluctance to participate to reduce you to a flock of timid animals of which the government is the shepherd."
The above are "highlights" of the Beck/Paine tirade. He is calling for insurrection. He's also asserting that we must now rise up in rebellion in order to "earn" the right to be Americans.
What he is doing is quite literally criminal. Apart from advocating rebellion, he's "shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater."
How can this be allowed to go unchecked?
Beck will kick off very soon from a heart attack when his tea bag party flops big time.
Thomas Paine = Patriot
Glenn Beck = Thomas Paine
Therefore Glenn Beck is the Patriot.
Thomas Paine = Patriot
Glenn Beck = Village Idiot
Therefore Glenn Beck is the Patriot.
in his warped mind
There.I fixed it for you.
there are no degrees of affinity between Beck, Paine and/or Kevin Bacon.
However Beck did appear as a customer on Cheers in an episode appropriately named "Crane Damaged."
I heart Glenn Beck's antics. Not so much his politics.
until Beck mentions what THEY did at Little Big Horn.
There were teabaggers at Little Bighorn?
the fascism with the last administration he had no problem with.
Who stupidly put this ignorant, smelly crap together for the braindead Beck and why isn't he crying?
...and their idea of taking the government back? No unemployment insurance, no social services, no infrastructure?? They don't want our tax dollars spent on anything but the pentagon?
Glenn's great great great great great great great great great great grandfather is a dumb dink just like him.
where Glenn Beck exhorts his followers to "...believe in something. Even if it's wrong, believe in it." You find people like this everywhere you go. They think that, because their personal beliefs are held passionately, that they possess special insight on what's true and right for everybody.
Or, as Yeats put it:
for eight years they screamed the king isn't coming, bush is great, the economy is wonderful, war is good, and now from 1000 radio stations they get to scream there is no global warming, look out for the commie environmentalists, etc.
How much longer are you Yanks going to let this jerk shout "FIRE!" in the crowded theater? He is abusing his right to free speech by using his privileged platform to incite civil disorder. Is this not a crime in the USA?
By his own admission, Beck gets a salary of $50m a year for pumping out this poison. Do you think he really gives a damn about anything except the money?
Thomas Paine would have spit in the face of Glenn Beck.
Hopefully with a cheek full of Skoal.
... aside from Beck's usual crazed rantings.
Why would he mind if America turns fascist?
He is one. So are Hannity and LImbaugh and O'Reilly. They're jackbooted authoritarians who would have had no trouble donning the swastika and making sure the camps operated smoothly.
Of course, he's so addled he can't keep his "isms" straight.
beck flunked addling.
Why are democrat sites given Fox news and their personal like Beck exposure so their BS can be spread around the globe.
If BS happens in the forest and no one sees it does it really matter...
If we keep ignoring these assholes, they will continue to spread their vitriol. I say put the spotlight firmly on their idiocy, make them irrelevant by pointing out how unginged they are.
If one person, ONE PERSON who listens to Beck decides to take up arms and kill people, is Beck not then responsible for inciting violence?
Now we have evidence of SEVERAL people who listened to Beck having killed people, including THREE police officers!
Why is the FBI not banging on the doors of Faux news?
So who was a Beck listener that decided to take up arms and shoot the heck out of things? Give me the name of one person who went out and blasted the hell out of things because Beck put ideas in his head? That's plain idiocy.
what is plain idiocy is people like you playing ostrich.
http://openline.medialine.com/showthread.php?...
Follow and weep!
but I'm not weeping, I liked the one comparison one of the posters made. Is Al Gore responsible for the Una-bomber Ted Kazinsky after all when he was arrested they found some of Gore's writing in his cabin? For that matter is Al Gore responsible for all the eco-terrorism going on because he keeps talking about global warming?
Telling all those folks to " Rise Up" and to Revolt!
Damn commie
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