By MARC McDONALD
Cindy Sheehan is a woman who I greatly admire. Since she lost her son to Bush's immoral, illegal invasion of Iraq, Sheehan has become an eloquent and outspoken anti-Iraq War activist.
Of course, the Kool-Aid-drinking fanatical brownshirt Bush supporters haven't been happy with Sheehan. They've called her all kinds of names.
One particularly sick and twisted right-winger called Sheehan a "slut."
So what did CNN do? It turned around and gave this right-wing asshole, Glenn Beck, his own hour-long program, so he could spew his hate speech every day to unsuspecting viewers.
We're not talking about Fox News here. We're talking about CNN.
Actually, most of us progressives never took CNN much more seriously than Fox News. After all, CNN pretty much serves up the same corporate pabulum as Fox News. During the build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, CNN was every bit the jingoistic cheerleader that Fox News was.
But hiring Beck is a new low for CNN.
Actually, Beck (who often prides himself on his "outspoken" taboo-breaking style) likely had second thoughts about calling Sheehan a "slut" after he used that vile, sexist, woman-hating term on his nationally syndicated radio program on Aug. 15, 2005. A few days later, he claimed that he'd actually called Sheehan a "pimp."
Now "pimp" is bad enough. But the word "slut" is way over the line. It's a degrading term for women and, let's face it, it's used by men who hate women.
Deep down, I'm sure Beck realizes this. And I'm sure he now wishes that this issue would go away. And to some extent, he's succeeded. By constantly misquoting himself on the original reference, Beck has made a lot of people forget that he originally called Sheehan a "slut." Even the outstanding media watchdog site, Media Matters, (which has done a great job of monitoring Beck's hate speech) omits the "slut" reference in its roundup of Beck's racist, bigoted, sexist quotes.
One has to wonder what exactly prompted Beck to viciously attack Sheehan in the first place.
Beck constantly portrays himself as a big supporter of the troops in Iraq. But it wasn't Sheehan who was responsible for the deaths of 2,425 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. It was Beck's hero, Bush, who lied America into a reckless, illegal, immoral war.
Sheehan lost her son to Bush's evil war that was based on lies. She understandably is seeking answers to why her son died. Along the way, she's become an eloquent speaker, who has written a number of moving, informative articles about the war.
In fact, one can read a handful of Sheehan's writings and learn more about America's misadventure in Iraq than one could from watching a year's worth of CNN.
Incidentally, if Beck really is such a big supporter of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, I can't help but wonder why he doesn't enlist in the military himself. After all, the U.S. military these days is running short on its recruitment drives and is accepting enlistees well into their 40s. Beck (who is in his early 40s) would be welcomed with open arms at his local recruiting office.
But you can bet that a scumbag coward like Beck will avoid signing up to go serve in combat (just as his hero, Bush, found a way to avoid serving in combat when his nation was at war in Vietnam). No, it's much easier for Beck to sit here in America, living his comfortable millionaire's lifestyle and calling the mother of a fallen soldier a "slut." He is truly a sick, despicable man and CNN's desperate bid to boost its ratings will certainly backfire as repelled viewers abandon that network in droves after they're exposed to Beck's hate-spewing program.
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25 comments:
Anderson Cooper interviewed Beck a few nights ago and treated him like a respectable guest, lobbying him one Larry King-style softball question after another. It was quite a contrast to when Cooper interview Michael Moore last year and grilled him with a hostile, confrontational interview (of the sort that is actually very rare on CNN).
CNN is fishing in the wrong pond. They are trying to attract Fox viewers but it's a hopeless cause.
I think Beck actually wants to eventually goad CNN into firing him. One of these nights, he'll say something outrageous that will go over the line and then CNN will fire him. It'll be a publicity coup for him and he (and the rest of the right-wing) will be able to claim that it was CNN's "left wing" bias that led to his dismissal.
Huge numbers of Americans are hopelessly misinformed these days about politics and international issues. In addition to our nation's abysmal education system, I think our media is to blame for this sorry state of affairs. One could watch Beck's show daily for a year and still be hopelessly misinformed and ignorant about the state of the world.
I can't stand Glenn Beck arghh!!! I hate that guy, & I agree with the trying to get the Fox news cowd,
He's the Antichrist!
mr moose
what you had to say wasn't important enough to say once, no less twice.
Glenn Beck-like most neo-con draft-dodging,closeted,pampered,priveledged fat-asses runs his mouth using all sorts of expletives to cast dispersions on those who criticise right-wing antics-so in all fairness maybe we should start-playing nice isn't doing any good.
You know, out of curiosity I did a Google search yesterday to see what Glenn Beck's ratings were like for his CNN show. I was only somewhat surprised to finding postings like this one. However, I was surprised at the amount of pure hatred for someone whom you've obviously not listened to enough to understand what he's about.
Do I worship Beck? Absolutely not. I'm independent and mostly libertarian. But in jumping back and forth between conservative talk radio and Air America I can definitely say that Glenn Beck is the most entertaining of all of them. Even though he's basically conservative, he slams both sides of the political aisle.
Before you do a bunch of name calling, you ought to listen at least enough to understand what he's about. He's real, he's flawed and he readily admits as much. I disagree with him a lot, but at least I respect him and where he's coming from.
The bottom line is that this blind hatred is what's wrong with our country - not the right wing, not the left wing. We all need to grow up, listen, understand and respectfully disagree. Then and only then will we actually make some progress.
I am a 12 year old who hates Glenn Beck, after watching a few of his episodes I've been seeing how he is a racist pig who hates Muslims and how he calls Katrina victims "scum bags" all I can say about him is that he is big fat loser and that he deserves to be punished for what he has said about other people!
I may not know the future and I may not know wheather good things or bad things may come along but I know that people in this world should be like sisters and brothers, all I know is that life isn't getting any easier nor its getting better each year. I don't hate Glenn Beck(infact I don't hate anyone) and I don't love him too but I wish he would be a better person and stop his horrible lies.This world isn't to be fought over but to be shared over. This is what I've been waiting to do forever!
John D. Pergram
You are a but a fleeting glimps in this world, just like the rest of us. With that fact in mind, perhaps you should withhold your judgement of others, for just like mine, your voice is small. Mother Earth has no place in her great heart for those who condem others and never look into the hate they may harbor within themselves.
Perhaps you are right, Beck may be a fool and worse yet a tool to turn the wheels of darkness. But under this Sun, this place where life evolved, it is not our place to judge those we must co-inhabit with, in the end we all return to the Earth and time moves on.
The hate must stop, the hate must be stomped out by a new light, a better way...There is no other way...Our years are numbered...There is no time but now. I understand your anger, we are all so empty and sad, even when we hold our happiness in our shaking hands. It seems so many of us never rise above our lowest point, we never learn to live and forgive. This world is not about Beck, it's not about you nor me...This world is not ours to keep, or shelder from the cold reality of life.
I wish for you to find peace, that is all it is about,inner peace. There are many things in this world that make me ill, but really living my only life makes me well.
Take care my friend, and understand those things that we must rise above.
With respect J.D.P.
Glen back is the latest in the company of as such great men as Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and so on. Don't let the liberal scumbags get the best of you Glen!!!
You Liberals are all alike...If you don't agree with what is said and cannot discuss facts, then resort to cussing, calling people names and doing the personal attack thing. You just might try listening, you might learn something!
Yep, I can't stand his right-wing climate-change denying views. We get that crap beamed up to Canada and it's bad. There is, unfortunatly, people out there that will mistake his opinions for the turth.
Most of the people speaking in this forum should apply to work with the National Inquire.
Why is this hate-mongering clown still on the air. He truly disgusts me. Is he for real? Hopefully he will be replaced soon.
You guys do realize that his program is billed as a "comedy news show" don't you?
I hate Glen Becks guts. Oh wait---he has no guts. He is another puppet. All wood with someones hand stuck up his hiney.
The best thing anyone can do is just STOP WATCHING CNN. This network is supporting this single-minded racist. I mean, we have enough with Lou Dobbs. Beck is just too much. I do NOT watch CNN anymore. I will actually go ask my cable company to block all CNN and FOX news channels. I HOPE that all of you that spoke earlier would do the same. Actions speak louder than words. Oh, and Beck... if you ever read this...F.U.
His job is to discredit and smear FDR and the New Deal. Another soulless personality willing to parrot his masters agenda for a buck. Much like Dennis Miller, he is a viscious greedy little cowardly man with out a concious or a shred of integrity.
That was satire. Like most of his content. It's entertainment people. Get a life.
CNN is a racist network and has long been connected to known racists. If you visit their website at anytime you will see their subversive racism, especially against blacks. As Obama comes onto the scene, the number of out of the blue pejorative reports about blacks have sharply increased.
Glenn Beck is repulsive, but what scares me is the hateful words used in describing Beck. Is it helpful to use his Mormon faith as an attack? I am Athiest and disagree with all religion, but i do not see how this is helpful. Being a Mormon is no worse than being Southern Baptist, Catholic, or Athiest for that matter. Also, Using "gay" as a slander is pretty pathetic. Just my two cents.
People need to wake up the fact that Glenn Beck is simply another opinion pushing charlatan who is a product of mormon cult theology that he mixes with parts of Catholicism and his personal core as a dry alcoholic. And for the record, he is a Mormon and not a Christian. The two are not the same as one is a cult and the other is a religion. This makes Glenn Beck one very twisted screwed up moron who sold his soul to the lowest common denominator of personal stupidity. And for the record…the religion of Islam has far more in common with Christianity than the mormon cult.
Glenn Beck can be summarized simply as a dry mormon alcoholic who never got the counseling required for alcoholics. Those are his only qualifications for anything in life as he never went to college and definitely knows nothing about American History or the US Constitution. Because he does not possess a single ounce of journalistic integrity, this makes him the perfect abortion poster child for Fox Network. Considering the fact that Beck’s personal views are extreme Marxist Libertarian, his form of patriotism is false and he is a person who has no real substance or depth. He is definitely not a true conservative. As with Joseph Smith or that 5th grade graduate who started the Jehovah’s Witness Cult, this over-paid idiot (Glenn Beck) got in bed with Satan a very long time ago. It’s really all about the money as hate, lies, promotion of ignorance and fear mongering are the only marketable skills that Glenn Beck has on his side and he has a growing flock of very impressionable idiots who do not understand the difference between a cult and a religion or truth & facts versus lies.
Glenn Beck consistently demonstrates all the unstable behaviors of a dry alcoholic which include grandiosity, judgmentalism, intolerance, impulsivity, ADD, indecisiveness and blindness to truth. In short, Beck, Limbaugh, O Reilly, Hannity, Palin, O Donnell, Coulter and others like them frequently pervert truth, history, facts, religion and the US Constitution when they open their big mouths. Beck is simply part of a national league of pseudo-conservative idiots who make big money by selling lies and half truths to impressionable fools who occupy the lowest levels of society. Basically…tea baggers and registered republicans who are condemned to repeat the mistakes of history.
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