Projection much? Glenn Beck warns: 'Fascism is on the rise'
By David Neiwert Thursday Apr 02, 2009 9:00am
Just a few weeks ago, Glenn Beck was shrilly declaring that America was marching toward Communism. It was the show's featured theme. Yesterday, he admitted he was wrong -- it's not Communism we're headed toward, it's Fascism!
Of course, he only looked the definition of the word up the day before, so you know, he may change his mind again. But whatever:
Beck: Like it or not, fascism is on the rise. And that doesn't mean the Adolph Hitler kind of fascism. It's fascism with a happy face. I'll explain the exact definition of fascism in a second, and it will boggle your mind.
Well, as someone who's studied fascism in the flesh, this had me interested. So he brought on libertarian economist Sheldon Richman to talk about what it all means:
Beck: I looked up the definition of fascism yesterday, and I want to break it down. The first part is: "Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society’s economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners." Wouldn't you say this is what's happening with GM right now?
Um, no Glenn, not really. You see, the means by which the Nazis achieved "domination" of private owners was violence and thuggish intimidation. I could be mistaken, but I don't think that's what's happening to GM right now. But that's what's missing from your how you're depicting fascism.
You see, Beck is quoting from Richman's article on fascism in the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, which is a libertarian site. He and Richman go on to discuss fascism in purely economic terms.
But fascism was an economic phenomenon only secondarily at best. Primarily, fascism is a political and cultural pathology; its leading ideologues in fact explicitly rejected economics as a driver in human affairs. Fascism was all about blood and iron and will, a love of violence and a contempt for the weak. Only in its mature stages -- when it has actually obtained power -- do economics come into play for fascism.
Moreover, fascism was always populist -- a very specific, producerist kind of right-wing populism. That's hardly what has proceeded from Obama and the Democrats, who if anything are looking more corporatist by the day.
So when we look at the reality of fascism, both historically and in the present, the only serious likelihood of any coming strain of fascism is proceeding, as we might expect, from the populist corners of the right, especially as it indulges and encourages eliminationist rhetoric directed at various "liberal" and minority targets (Latino immigrants in particular).
Details below.
How far out to lunch was Beck here? Well, one of the goofier moments in this whole charade came when Beck trotted out the back of an old American dime -- first minted, as Beck says, in 1916 -- which has a fasces, the fascist symbol, on its reverse side:
This is the famed "Mercury dime", which was designed by sculptor Adolph A. Weinman, who won a 1915 competition: "The reverse design, a fasces juxtaposed with an olive branch, was intended to symbolize America's readiness for war, combined with its desire for peace."
Now, the fasces has a long history of inclusion in various parts of American symbology besides just this dime. You can find it in the Oval Office, on National Guard Bureau insignia, on the American flag that flies in the U.S. House, in the Mace of the House of Representatives; on the seal of the U.S. Senate, on the Statue of Freedom atop the United States Capitol building, and on a frieze on the facade of the United States Supreme Court building. Fasces are incorporated into the Lincoln Memorial.
But then, fascism as a political movement was not born until 1919. So for sculptor Weinman to have intended the fasces on the Mercury dime to imply a "fascist" intent, he'd have had to have jumped in a time machine, traveled to the future, met Mussolini, and come back to 1915 with that nefarious design in his head. Somehow I doubt this.
But that's just a small example of how badly Beck has distorted the public's understanding of fascism with this segment. By way of remediation, let me offer the definition of fascism from someone other than a libertarian economist -- in this case, from Roger Griffin, the renowned Oxford Brookes scholar who has authored, among other studies, The Nature of Fascism. This is from a survey article he authored:
Fascism: modern political ideology that seeks to regenerate the social, economic, and cultural life of a country by basing it on a heightened sense of national belonging or ethnic identity. Fascism rejects liberal ideas such as freedom and individual rights, and often presses for the destruction of elections, legislatures, and other elements of democracy. Despite the idealistic goals of fascism, attempts to build fascist societies have led to wars and persecutions that caused millions of deaths. As a result, fascism is strongly associated with right-wing fanaticism, racism, totalitarianism, and violence.
Or Robert O. Paxton, in The Anatomy of Fascism:
Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal constraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.
As you can see, none of these would exactly be a handy definition for Beck's purposes, since very little of what they describe fits the politics that are currently proceeding on the main American stage.
Beck's mistake is in attempting to view fascism through an economic prism, when its essence was always political and cultural. Indeed, it's important to understand that fascists rejected economic analyses of the world. This reflected both their devout opposition to socialism (which indeed primarily was preoccupied with economic matters) as well as their core impulse -- the raw will to power, enabled by a discrete set of what Paxton calls "mobilizing passions" (such as a fanatical belief in national ethnic unity, devotion to the instincts of their leader, fear of liberalism, a love of violence, and so on). Maybe Mussolini expressed it clearest when he uttered: "The democrats of Il Mondo want to know our program? It is to break the bones of the democrats of Il Mondo."
As Paxton puts it in Anatomy of Fascism (more here):
Even at its most radical, however, fascists' anticapitalist rhetoric was selective. While they denounced speculative international finance (along with all other forms of internationalism, cosmopolitanism, or globalization -- capitalist as well as socialist), they respected the property of national producers, who were to form the social base of the reinvigorated nation. When they denounced the bourgeoisie, it was for being too flabby and individualistic to make a nation strong, not for robbing workers of the value they added. What they criticized in capitalism was not its exploitation but its materialism, its indifference to the nation, its inability to stir souls. More deeply, fascists rejected the notion that economic forces are the prime movers of history. For fascists, the dysfunctional capitalism of the interwar period did not need fundamental reordering; its ills could be cured simply by applying sufficient political will to the creation of full employment and productivity. Once in power, fascist regimes confiscated property only from political opponents, foreigners, or Jews. None altered the social hierarchy, except to catapult a few adventurers into high places. At most, they replaced market forces with state economic management, but, in the trough of the Great Depression, most businessmen initially approved of that.
What's the most fascistic thing to appear on the American political horizon in recent months? Glenn Beck and his "912 Project" and the accompanying apocalyptic fearmongering. He's a right-wing populist, and that never seems to turn out well.
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Pass the peanuts! It's time for da Beck Shoe!
And here I thought that was just my lunch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei-L_AuuaxI
Obviously, you are woefully unaware of what the word means.
This is what happens to fascists...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDatIXV93vs&fe...
From Encyclopedia Britannica
fascism
politics
Main
political ideology and mass movement that dominated many parts of central, southern, and eastern Europe between 1919 and 1945 and that also had adherents in western Europe, the United States, South Africa, Japan, Latin America, and the Middle East. Europe’s first fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, took the name of his party from the Latin word fasces, which referred to a bundle of elm or birch rods (usually containing an ax) used as a symbol of penal authority in ancient Rome. Although fascist parties and movements differed significantly from each other, they had many characteristics in common, including extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites, and the desire to create a Volksgemeinschaft (German: “people’s community”), in which individual interests would be subordinated to the good of the nation. At the end of World War II, the major European fascist parties were broken up, and in some countries (such as Italy and West Germany) they were officially banned. Beginning in the late 1940s, however, many fascist-oriented parties and movements were founded in Europe as well as in Latin America and South Africa. Although some European “neofascist” groups attracted large followings, especially in Italy and France, none were as influential as the major fascist parties of the interwar period.
Is beck full of fasces?
yes...yes he is.
nyuk
From Bedlam Glen Beck and as a special attraction . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PK_EuAglXg
Oh everyone look, the republicans are paying blog trolls again. Eve do they pay by the post or by the word. Can't be by content 'cause your posts have been pretty droll. I'll give you credit for not resorting to cut and paste, but, sigh,,,,
ya sure 'bout that?
although Yoopers probably would think Alice was, even if she drove her Corvair over the Mackinwhatever bridge.
with that reference.
..is my favorite car. Had a '61 four door and lost it in a 7 car, four truck accident on the L.I.E. Ah, memories!
Time to send Beck his own Brown Shirt.
http://www.bergwithfries.com/img/ups2.jpg
Beck reminds me of Sergeant Shultz from Hogan's Heros.
But then Schultz wasn't too proud to admit "I know nothing".
Adolph!=Adolf
Hitler was not a Grecian!
Then how did he keep his hair so dark?
flatulence?
..cocaine use.
No. Instead Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein’s “Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington”.
Bye bye.
the rednecks! Traditional families! Heterosexuals! Blonde people! The Anti Abortionists! Cowboys! We must restore our country to Liberal GREATNESS!!!
LOL
Beck might want to invite Naomi Wollfe onto his show for a little lesson on the "14 Steps of Fascism"
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm
Pardon my misspelling of her name.
Her video is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAV87X5keQ0
The previous weeks he was raving about communism and socialism. Now we're gonna be all fascist?
In Beck's head, we are going to be taken over by a bunch of islamo-fascists hell bent on imposing a communist dictatorship... right after we get universal health care. Only bad things can come from a just society that takes care of the health of its citizens!
Fairness, compassion, and peace to a republican are like a wooden wedge marinated holy water spiked with garlic to a vampire.
What if the vampire is Italian?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvl2CbnE2qo
Somebody must have read Pantload's book title to him.
I hope that doesn't mean the United States will stop serving alcohol under our new islamo-fascist leaders. I'm hoping for a kinder, gentler islamo-fascism.
yeah, which is it, Weepy? Have you got all the "isms" covered now?
God, I almost did a spit-take seeing that picture of Weepy's 'lil head being nearly crushed by the parading Nazis. Oh, the hilarity!
I'm glad you brought this up because as I was in my car I heard him talk about this mercury dime business and linking it to 1916, Woodrow Wilson and Mussolini and perhaps aliens. Now I understand a little something about the history of the fasces so I thought, this is it, this is where he finally goes completely bat-shit, take me to the asylum crazy live on radio. But I imagine that he'll be back tomorrow, perhaps channeling Mussolini himself.
The right keeps throwing around terms like a baseball player throws around a baseball. And just because someone writes a book or an article that historians rejects, does not change the meaning of the word. They are just using it for the fear factor. Fascism is from right, not left.
It's the "monkey house" approach to political strategy.
Just keep flinging shit around and hope some of it sticks to the walls.
there is an actual method to this jackass madness:
he is literally doing nothing but projection and deflection. Every single thing, every one of them, that he is accusing liberals of... that is exactly what his compadres on the right have been engaging for the better part of 3 to 4 decades at the very least.
F*ck him, he is not crazy, he is simply trying to place the blame for his shit ideology on those who have tried to clean up the mess the conservatives keep on leaving.
To assume this guy is simply insane would be a grave mistake.
I still ain't gonna say he's smart though.
I believe your summations, to have great merit. Though I can't speak to a direct history of said events at this time, I nonetheless, support your diagnose. In addition, I believe some people do this unknowingly, while as you've stated, that may not always be the case. Thanks again...
Actually it is more like the way a chimp flings poo.
Glenn Beck said something nonsensical and unhinged.
HA!
glenn 'get me a hanky' beck: "I looked up the definition of fascism yesterday"
bwaahahaha
so, he just looked it up yesterday. funny, and my apologies, here is beck edu-ma-catin' us about fascism earlier. (again, sorry)
GLENN: One of which -- and it's not that I want -- it's not that I'm setting out to write a book. It's that I'm curious about something and I've been curious on this one thing and it is a way for me to be able to afford the research that would have to go into it. And one of those books was on -- I said, what was it, about six months ago I don't believe that the communist party ever went away. I don't believe that Russia actually collapsed. I think they all went in hiding. I don't think that after we had the situation with McCarthy that those communists just went away. We just stopped looking for them. What happened to all of them? Where did they all go? And so what I've wanted to do is fund the research to be able to track them. How did it happen? When did it start? When did it come here? How did it go underground? Part of the reason why I wanted to do it is because Amity Shlaes' book called The Forgotten Man. It shows some of the beginning, the Progressive movement that Hillary Clinton is talking about. "Well, I like to consider myself a modern early 20th century Progressive." Remember what we first looked that up on the air? What is an early 20th century Progressive? That should spook the living bat crap out of you. What a early Progressive was is a fascist.
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/art...
You wanna see Beck flip out? Guess what the fascio is the pictorial representation of: "United we stand, divided we fall"
That's right, our motto since 9/11 (or his 912 project) when everybody was saying the above lines, well it turns out we were literally reciting the fascist mantra. LOL.
Tyranny is the latest and greatest.
we know that Beck is Chicken Little...but who is Henny Penny?
Henny Youngman's dinner?
this guy is either gonna pop a blood vessel, lose bowel control, or simply break out into an uncontrolled spasm...please please please let it happen on camera!!!
...most awesome thing to watch!
And just where did Beck get his definition of Fascism? Why from Sheldon Richman himself. Maybe we should all chip in and buy Glen a Webster's dictionary.
That's all we do anymore we don't even make our own tires here.
our car market. They said "just stick to what you know how to do make entertainment."
Ouch
the Tire Manufacturer's Association thinks there are about 100 companies operating about 160 plants around the US. Seventy-five percent of production comes from the largest four. But what do they know?
There's a Continental Tire plant just outside of Charlotte, NC.
They employ almost 1000 people I think, maybe more, and last I heard,(which, to be honest, was a good while ago) were doin quite well, and they had *pauses for effect*....a UNION!
In the SOUTH!
Shocking ain't it?
they're against rubbers'? ;)
I suppose if some a--hole claims the earth is egg-shaped you'll spend 2000 words explaining why that's not true, too?
with your post it is now 2027 words
$$
Actually the Earth IS somewhat egg-shaped, slightly longer at one point.
Where's you been?
...that was (part of) his point!!!
Can I have mine with a side of bacon, home fries and carafe of coffe.
Only if the a-hole has a tv show and is spewing the wild rantings of his paranoid mind as news and information.
complaining by people who completely missed the "crooks and liars" theme that a "www.crooksandliars.com" web address would imply.
Could my Google Maps find a web address and give my UPS man driving directions?
Hmmm. Well, if that a-hole had an audience of millions and was one of the most popular "rising stars" on TV ... yeah. Not that I'd have to spend 2000 words on it, but I'd definitely be pointing it out.
OTOH, the shape of the earth is a matter of common sense and is a widely understood fact. We cannot say the same of fascism. Indeed, we just had an NYT bestseller last year titled Liberal Fascism, which indicates just how degraded the public's understanding of fascism actually is.
Beck provided us with a "teachable moment." I'm taking advantage of it.
force you to read it? By the way, the world is slightly egg shaped. It is not perfectly spherical.
... of the egg-shaped earth theory don't have syndicated shows on radio and FOX News, or one-night only tales of Christmas Sweaters shown in the local theater.
The point is that Beck is not only postulating a completely idiotic theory, he's making a mess of historical fact and political science as well.
And remember to be outraged when a bunch of religious loons try to teach your child that the Garden of Eden was really Jurassic Park.
whatever the BUSH administration and house (R) majority did/left this current administration i don't want it. i have issue with BUSH/cheney giving non-bid contracts to the likes of haliburton/KBR along with NO rules/consequences in the war zone. i don't like medicare D plan with no competitive bidding to get cost down. i didn't like legislation and signing statements written by the corporations. i haven't liked "cheap labor" brought in where in some areas where there has been a cost shift to the middleclass. i haven't liked the (R) the last 10 yrs. who have given the word filibuster a whole new meaning. i haven't like the degulation provided to banks/financial institutions. i haven't like the misinformation or information withheld regarding torture and climate change. if the BUSH administration is an example of fascism i have had enough......i wants NO more.
... that in my new fascist regime, Beck and his buddies (including Chuckles the Ninja and his new girlfriend, Chica el Guano Loco Bachmann) will be first against the wall - a nice criminal line-up followed by life in prison for thought crime.
If a fasces is a bundle of birches with axe heads
What's it called when there are no ax heads
f*****s?
Birchers with no axe to grind?
I'd call that an impossibility:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg6ixwmcMcc
it seems, always sows it seeds with guys like Beck running around fear-mongering and trying to whip everybody up into a national fervor with reactionary ideology based on racism and nationalism. It's laughable that they accuse anyone who is less liberal than them of being fascist when their own ideology is a perfect fit for the term. It won't be too long until Beck's 9-12ers come up with their own "Horst Wessel Song" and start marching around with brown shirts.
We love you yeah yeah yeah
http://tinyurl.com/cyhdpt
not Fascism.
Becks just a clown decoy
cause were going too
Nothing is real
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywg-PdeGVL0
Man I'm so tired of these irresponsible lazy "journalists" who simply want to create a new generation of haters. All these people can do is emotionally manipulate people into a raging froth and stand back and say "who me?" when someone actually acts out on their rage.
We need some OVERSIGHT in the media! We need the FCC to REGULATE the airwaves once again! We need people like Beck, Limbaugh and Coulter to receive arrest warrants for inciting HATRED!
ENOUGH ALREADY!
But there is no place for it in the CorpoRat media.
Their interests--the interests of the corpoRat State--are best served with the present configuration.
There will be no changes soon.
a country anymore.
All it takes is a few bushes.
rotflmao.
That was good and you know it! ♥
and i posted it...seemed a natural response to me.
But thanks though! :)
it was, I almost spit out my drink.
ya learn to live with it.
Ya should've been a landscaper.
by government regulating speech...
What Beck needs is to be tased in the ballz anytime he speaks the word "fascism" for about a week. Unless he's an especially slow learner, he'll take the hint...
enough is enough. These guys have been popping up all over the place since the inception of Fox News and they have absolutely no responsibility for anything that they say or do no matter how wrong or misleading it is. It just kills me that so many people watch this stuff. I feel like, in Kurt Vonnegut's words, "A Man Without a Country." Like the earlier post about Billo's ambushes. He hides behind the lie of holding people's feet to the fire when all he's really doing is bullying and intimidating anyone who happens to disagree with him. Goebbles would have loved these guys.
but i can't
i think that censorship of the hate-mongers would only serve to make 'martyrs' out of them.
i think allowing the becks of the world to broadcast is akin to letting the KKK march--the more exposure people have to them, the more people will turn away.
good point. They already use the "Fairness Doctrine" to try and make martyrs out of themselves.
Beck is about 8 years late on this news.
Raygun was the first "modern American fascist."
Nixon was just a thug...
Odd, I thought he was a Quaker.
It always amazes me how these Yahoos like Boss Limbaugh, Billo the Clown and Beck accuse Dems of being Commies or Nazis -- and yet THEY'RE the traitors!
Why?
Well, the Commies and Fascists hated each other, but they had one thing in common: The Party ALWAYS came first in each of those systems. What was good for The Party was, by default, good for the country. Anyone opposed to The Party, was against the country, by default.
That's the same message these braying jackasses have: Anything the GOP does, no matter how stupid or destructive, is Great! Anything the Democrats do, no matter how good it is or how much it helps the country, is BAD.
These pukes make me sick.
Bat.
Shit.
Crazy.
I got about halfway through this drivel and couldn't take any more.
And tomorrow I plan on being even more afearded!! Make it stop Glen, for the love of god...........(crying) make it stop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkdMzSq2y2k&fe...
Wizard
Left right left right left right
Better wear rubber hip boots then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJw6Hp2OQNs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceQ3aO16nws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_YK9wVK6IQ&fe...
Tried to watch it, could only take 1 minute. Does he realize how offensive it is for him to spew his crap in front of nazi films? No, he doesn't, dumb question.
Opening scene of 1984
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xns67AVkOeI
Someone ought to inform Beck that Cheney has left the building.
The Bush administration was the closest we've ever gotten to fascism, with the exception of the religious right.
It's called flatulism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_BhlFjuToU
three letter words beginning with G, like gas and God, provoke reactions.
is flat. That would make Beck's views religious, not political.
Flatulence would be faith that the creator did not actually intend for the side he put us on to be the bottom, hence explaining why we do not fall off.
are you a writer for Beck's insanity hour?
Actually Flatulence is a fart ;)
Funny thing is, we just stepped out of 8 years of facism (no bid contracts, evesdropping, torture...the gov controlling the people to boost coorporate greed...) We are finally heading back down the path of democracy.....sure Obama has a HUGE job ahead of him...but I think so far he has done more and met with more world leaders (unconditionally...remember that) in the last few months than bush did his entire time in office.
Funny how when there is a facist rethug in office its all, you have to stand behind your president no matter what....now that we have one of the most impartial democratic leaders he is a facist and commie and out to ruin this great nation of greed we worked so hard to build!
Mr. Neiwert: Very well written piece, very effective use of references. A cut above the usual blog stuff.
Did Beck condemn Bush and Cheney's abuses of power? If I remember correctly, he demanded Bush's critics be silent and obey without question......
of the S.C.L.M.
you're absolutely right. This is the reason why I do not understand how anyone can take these guys seriously.
I remember his on-air "pep rallies" around the time of the start of the War in Iraq. They aired simultaneously on all the stations on the Clear Channel cluster here. He was their boy.
C'mon C&L i'm sick of your Beck postings. The first couple of times it was amusing but it seems your posting his show everyday. If I wanted to watch this assclown i'll go to fox or youtube I don't come to your website to watch him, doesn't he receive enough PR without you guys helping him.
LOL...he regrets going on there already.
He is still, getting close, also still with the Republican Propaganda Twist. He is Hijacking a movement. I see Obama as Fascist when he wants to expand the vigilant citizens social network, the spy program needs to stop. They are putting more idiots in charge of watching us, the idiots determine who is a threat, American born or not. The largest threat to America is the global economy and out of control Pentagon(pentagram).
The bundle of sticks represents a very large bank account to me, looks like an ancient rich mans account that he would carry with himself.
Whatever, Glenn Beck leading the movement via FOX is all total Bullshit. Although I am very sick of my government molding my life into crap. I want the Republic too, Democracy is the "majority" controlling the minority, that is not freedom.
I say Glenn is still studying Alex Jones, wonder when he will flip back to Organized Religion Ideals. Even Tho Alex Jones has been recruiting the religious, Alex's movement is very anti-status-quo. Such a mess of misinformation and idiotics.
the pendulum of life has swung way to the favortism of the haves and the envy of the haves in a unhealthy way. special interests/lobbyists have too much money/power. with some compromise/astute moves, i personally feel obama is trying to move the pendulum the other direction. while the "empire" grew during the last 8 yrs. they neglected their own homeland. easy to for some criticize without an alternative solution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hzZYGwOEaw
Glen is one of our true Americans in this country, how can so many a**holes be so wrong. You are the ones that will be standing in the food line with your kids, probably still bashing Beck. Every true American should stand up and be accounted for before its too late.
Glen, keep fighting
That is a good short term explanation of Beck. If you follow his career back just 6 months and beyond he was hard edge Bush everything. He is taking his info, his content, from Alex Jones, if that is what you believe the real deal is Jones, beck is a copy cat mimic with no balls.
a true American, rightwing, fascist, propagandist asshole.
Oh yeah...and he's a fucktard too.
a census will certainly cure all problems.
i don't like beck. do i lose my citizenship now or do you propose a two tier system of a-class and b-class americans?
He just looked up the word fascism yesterday? How old is he? And yesterday was the first time he's ever looked up the word fascism?
Speaks volumes about him, doesn't it?
He cracks me up. I am so glad we have funny guys like him on TV to entertain us.
Oh, what's that? You say he claims he actually believes the stuff he's saying?? Oh oh. Call the men with the straight-jackets. A new resident is coming to the funny farm.
Glenn Beck - moron on the march.
communism, socialism, fascism, 1984
Actually Glenn, it is the lizard people you really have to look out for.
They are everywhere and look just like us. Watch the skies...
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/flashgordon...
It's such gibberish, I don't know what he's asking us to do, other than take to the streets and riot. Is he promoting ANARCHISM?
obama: far-left, liberal, socialist, bleeding heart, communist, people hating, fascist, terrorist. (I think he's racist too).
bush: nothing spells freedom and democracy like preemptive wars, prison camps, secret prison camps, rendition, and torture. you know good ol' fashioned freedom.
who loves our country and those of you who mock him are the reason why he's got such great ratings. Because there are MILLIONS (remember, almost half of those who voted, voted AGAINST Obama)of us out here who totally agree with him and can't stand to see what the new admin is doing. You think Bush was bad? Just wait.
And all your nastiness does is just prove his point: that the left is radical, can't have anyone disagree with them. And stop with the racist crap. It doesn't fly anymore. We aren't against anyone because of their skin color. We're against them because of their ridiculous political ideas.
The right is RIGHT. The left is just what's left over. And the meanest, most vindictive, narrow-minded people I know are uber left-wing.
Right, that's why your party just lost the last two elections big time, because they are RIGHT.
If you think the meanies are all on the left then you need to listen a little more closely to the shining stars on the right, not that I expect you to really hear what they are saying.
that's funny do you remember how slightly more than half those people voted against bush. TWICE. see greg palast if you're having trouble swallowing that reality pill.
also, if the left is the meanest hate filled extreme why do conservatives call them bleeding hearts?
also, i'm really tired of this he loves our country shit. he loves it more than me, or you, or any other commenters? prove it or shut up. it's like saying jesus loves me more than you so that will logically sum up any argument i might have. can we just assume americans, right or wrong don't hate our country? they all live here. duh.
and i don't just think bush was bad. i know. i was a freshman in college in 97' and somebody wanted to know why saddam was still in power after desert storm. simple short answer: massive regional destabilization. i was 18 and knew more than or multi-billion dollar intelligence network?
now i've just had to watch eight years of the dumbest(at best) or sadistically evil (good place to start) administration since we put children on thrones. i also have family in the miltary and they have made plenty of trips. they usually disagree with me on politics and the war but in the beggining they liked arguing and were optomistic. now it's just something they rarely talk about.
so you're few months of obama? boo hoo.
I just finished reading on Newshounds how this jackass wants us in the military to start shooting our prisoners
Which is about as fascist a thing to do as I can think of. I am getting tired of the wingnut art of projection, very tired. This cocks----r needs to seriously STFU.
...and is therefore highly useful to the true fascists behind the scenes, because once the average person wakes up to the idiocy of Beck's views, they'll be innoculated against future accusations of fascism, even when warranted.
Jonah Goldberg and the other useful idiots spouting this same line must be lined up at the same trough.
"but he's a true American" trolls!
But on a serious note, thank you David, for the great post. I'm going to have to revisit it when my head isn't bothering me so that I can digest all of the information.
And on another note, as a twenty-something, I am gobsmacked that forty-something Beck only looked up fascism yesterday!
Holy jeebus - combine Beck's "definitions" with those video inserts, and I think we can comfortably confirm Beck and everyone associated with his show is certifiably insane. In-fucking-sane.
Hey Glenn , you dumb shit , do you even know what fascism means ? This country has been turning into a fascist state since Reagan and was kicked into high gear under Bush ! The government , Wall Street , and the wealthy banker / investor class have become as one and without question have been attacking and out to destroy the middle class .
Is this idiotic trash really being broadcast from a mainstream so-called news network?
any other "ism" is what they use to label anything they don't like. It doesn't matter to them what those terms actually mean, they just know that those words are scary to a segment of the population that also doesn't know what they mean.
In the real world it was Mussolini who created fascism not Hitler and although Hitler certainly had fascistic tendencies, he was actually elected and didn't use the army to overthrow his government violently. He did use his army to invade other countries; his justification was his love of Germany's national identity and the idea that it should be the only world leader.
Sounds more like Beck and W than most people would like to admit IMHO.
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