My Thoughts On The Glenn Beck Rally

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

I guess at the core my beef with both rallies was that they split people into different camps, which tends to breed cultish like behaviour. If conservatives just go on being conservative after a Beck rally and liberals continue to subscribe to the same liberal ideology lock and step following the Stewart rally, then what was actually accomplished? I don't need to march down to the National Mall to hear that Obama is a socialist or that all Republicans don't care about working class Americans, because I don't believe either is true. We're spoon fed this garbage from the time we're able to pick up a newspaper, or nowadays read a blog.

I'm convinced that most Americans are closer on many of the issues than they realize. They don't live their daily lives on some left or right spectrum, but rather a continuum. As a liberal, I can talk to any one of my conservative friends about searching for a job, how to prepare my taxes, planning for a wedding, or finding a good deal on a flat screen TV. You know, everyday normal shit. We all start from a similiar place in life. One day we're fresh out of school, later, if we're lucky we get married, then we look up and we're sending our kid(s) to college. I think that's kinda it in a nutshell. There will always be differences of opinion on the right approach to govern our nation, that's why we have two parties. But when did it become so god darned evil to disagree with one another? The age of cult personalities and divisive politics, I feel, is taking it's toll on our country and I refuse to willingly participate.

[rant over]

Actually the Gleen Beck ralley was not about conservtives but more about taking back the country. I don't follow him so I'm not 100% postive but I believe he tried to keep polics out of his ralley.

[MTK]

Regardless of what it was about it undoubtedly attracted mostly conservatives and the rest of Beck's crazy cult. I doubt there were too many on the fence types there.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

FD, buddy, why arent more people talking about it?

I don't think what a talk show host says on their show is really news. All he did was say that he thinks up to 10% of Islamics are terrorist. Its not like he called them all terrorist. Either the shoe fits or it does not. If someone said 10% of all white males are raciest I would not be offended because I'm not.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

One of the greatest, well two greatest, things about living in Washington D.C. is we're home of the Washington Redskins. The other being Washington D.C. is the epicenter of American politics. Anyone or anything that matters has to come through D.C. to get the attention of the nation.

This weekend I attended one of the two MLK rallies, but not the Glenn Beck rally. However, a couple of my friends went to the Beck rally. They went not out of any allegiance or genuine support for Glenn Beck or his ideology, whatever that truly is, but out of curiosity and to get a sense of the pulse of the crowd. One friend sent me a text message from the Beck rally, as I was listening to Al Sharpton speak at the other one, whom I no big fan of either, saying they were singing the Black National Anthem at the Beck rally on the Mall. I knew right then and there that this guy is about to explode in a way unimaginble. Anytime a white man in America can gather African Americans to sing that song, he's tapped into something worth paying attention to. But that's a thought I don't want to explore right here and now.

A couple of things I noticed while riding Metro and observing those who attended Beck's rally, there wasn't the usual hateful signs and, for the most part, these seemed like your run of the mill concerned citizens, not your angry Tea Party types. Now I know that a large segment of the crowd certainly identifies with the Tea Party, and there were undoubtedly some good old boys there who don't like Obama, but the rally didn't have a strong Tea Party or political overtone from what I understand.

What I'm starting to realize, irrespective of my personal views of Beck's politics, is that he matters. The National Park Service have yet to release any official crowd size estimates gathered at the Mall, but I've heard numbers ranging from 87K to north of 100K. So basically, if you watch Fox news they'll report the crowd size around three hundred thousand and if you watch MSNBC they'll report a hundred thousand! Surely you know the drill by now, but that's not really the point here. Whatever the number, and it was a lot, Glenn Beck is suddenly a very influential figure in American politics. I suppose in a way that he wasn't prior to this large gathering and I dare say in a way that may thwart the liberal and progressive agenda in the future. That remains to seen.

In fact, Beck, and very cleverly so, neutralized partisan politics by talking about faith and God. Personally I'm not buying it, but guess what I don't need to. That's a subject that all Americans, regardless of political leanings or ethnic persuasion, can relate to and quite frankly stomach during a toxic political environment such as the one we're seeing in Washington right now.

Here's the thing, Genn Beck can talk about faith and God in a way that say, Tim Pawlenty as a presidential candidate, cannot. He can gather a crowd and rally thousands that Mitt Romney wouldn't even dare dream about. Ben Jealous, President of the NAACP, and Al Sharpton combined barely filled a high school football field of supporters just ten minutes away in a tribute to MLK. Even Sarah Palin and all of her groupies wouldn't have mustered a crowd that large.

What I'm getting at is that you don't gather that many thousands on the hallowed grounds of the Mall and still don't matter. It's going to be more diffucult for the liberal media types to dismiss Beck and portray him as some right wing loon who just wants to stir up hate and divide the American people. And as many of us on the left would hate to admit, this guy is starting to fill a void that has existed in our country for the past ten or fifteen years. That being the American people simply want nuts and bolts leadership and they want to feel they identify with their leaders. I think that's the void that has been left by the the previous Administration, the current Congress, Democrats and Republicans, and has proven to be a very difficult task even for President Obama, who just two years ago generated a Kennedyesque buzz across the country.

Now I don't expect this thread to go anywhere after, say, the third page or so I just wanted to voice my thoughts on this weekend's events after some reflection. I think we're experiencing a real political and cultural shift in our country right now and I think the ride is just beginning.

Matty you might want to read this post again that 12th made starting this thread.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

I guess at the core my beef with both rallies was that they split people into different camps, which tends to breed cultish like behaviour. If conservatives just go on being conservative after a Beck rally and liberals continue to subscribe to the same liberal ideology lock and step following the Stewart rally, then what was actually accomplished? I don't need to march down to the National Mall to hear that Obama is a socialist or that all Republicans don't care about working class Americans, because I don't believe either is true. We're spoon fed this garbage from the time we're able to pick up a newspaper, or nowadays read a blog.

I'm convinced that most Americans are closer on many of the issues than they realize. They don't live their daily lives on some left or right spectrum, but rather a continuum. As a liberal, I can talk to any one of my conservative friends about searching for a job, how to prepare my taxes, planning for a wedding, or finding a good deal on a flat screen TV. You know, everyday normal shit. We all start from a similiar place in life. One day we're fresh out of school, later, if we're lucky we get married, then we look up and we're sending our kid(s) to college. I think that's kinda it in a nutshell. There will always be differences of opinion on the right approach to govern our nation, that's why we have two parties. But when did it become so god darned evil to disagree with one another? The age of cult personalities and divisive politics, I feel, is taking it's toll on our country and I refuse to willingly participate.

[rant over]

Sorry I only read part of this post at first and after reading it in full I agree 100%.

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by firstdown

I don't think what a talk show host says on their show is really news. All he did was say that he thinks up to 10% of Islamics are terrorist. Its not like he called them all terrorist. Either the shoe fits or it does not. If someone said 10% of all white males are raciest I would not be offended because I'm not.

I agree, but that type of rhetoric is what people actually believe who watch...just like how people believe obama is a muslim, or not born in this country etc. Look, anybody with sense knows that simply is not true, just like this stated opinion from beck. I have no problem with calling him out and making him look like a fool. What is truely bizaare is his producer then trys to support the figure. Its funny to me how these "rumors" start, but dont take offense when blantent ignorance is completely crushed by fact. Your right though, dont take what this talk show host rants as news.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Matty you might want to read this post again that 12th made starting this thread.

Please, you really believe the crowd wasn't pro-Beck and mostly conservative??

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Please, you really believe the crowd wasn't pro-Beck and mostly conservative??

You called a crazy cult and I was pointing out what 12th said about the people and what he saw.

[MTK]

Crazy comes in many forms, it's not always outwardly noticeable.

[BleedBurgundy]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Crazy comes in many forms, it's not always outwardly noticeable.

wish there was a "like" button for this...

[Hog1]

It is the through the illusion of insanity that brilliance is born.....
-Albert Einstein

[mlmpetert]

Glenn Beck: Welcome To My 'Favorite Things' Episode! Here's A Christmas Survival Bag

I wanted to post this in the What are you getting for Christmas thread, but i didnt want to cause any trouble.... This was pretty funny though.

I dvr his show and watch it on the reg., but only finish about 2 shows a week. This was one i couldnt finish, it just felt like he was selling stuff the whole time. I think part of the problem with his shows are that they are on for i think 3 hours a day; 2 hours on radio, 1 on tv. They are also opinion shows (which he makes very clear), so he has to talk about how he feels about stuff for 3 hours a day 5 days a week, that’s a lot theres only so much you can say. In my opinion 2 or 3 of his tv shows a week are great; they are fascinating, entertaining, engaging, funny, inspiring, emotional, and eventful. But some are pretty crappy. He’s also a little bit of a manic, so one day you watch and hes completely down to earth and does a great job conveying his message. Another day its like hes pissed off at the world and comes across angry and emotional inspired not fact-based driven.

I normally never talk about politics, except on here. I find myself defending Beck because I feel like most people make up their minds on him and write him off as a loon without ever watching his show, only watching clips on the Daily Show and I guess now CNN or reading headlines that are completely misleading. His show is on at a time slot that most people find inconvenient so its extremely easy for people to take him out of context, smear him or even make outright lies about him. Most people accept it as fact because they don’t have the chance to make their minds up about him directly from watching his show. In my opinion he is much more moderate then O’Rielly and definitely Shawn Hannity, but its much harder to attack these people since they have prime time viewing hours.

[Chico23231]

Heard this rumor for the last several months, looks like FOX is sick of ole Glen Beck and his bullsh*t.

Glenn Beck to End Daily Fox News Program - NYTimes.com

[firstdown]

If they were tired of his bullshit I don't see why they would have all those plans to do other shows. I'm guessing that trying to do a morning radio show and a TV show is too much work and Beck is cutting back. Not sure how many stations carry his radio show but I'm guessing that makes more then what FOX pays him. The few times I have watch his show I have found it very entertaining.

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by firstdown

If they were tired of his bullshit I don't see why they would have all those plans to do other shows. I'm guessing that trying to do a morning radio show and a TV show is too much work and Beck is cutting back. Not sure how many stations carry his radio show but I'm guessing that makes more then what FOX pays him. The few times I have watch his show I have found it very entertaining.

Yeah, very entertaining.

The reason is Beck makes them $$$. The more extreme the rhetoric, the better the ratings, and Becks were sky high. I would watch a couple times a month just to see what that jackass would say next. Fox was sick of his stuff, and he was losing his primary viewers, the 50+ crowd, in the end they will say its was mutual