Glen Beck is REAAAALLY trying it!

[Ben]

Can you admit that there is now more hatred from Americans (US cititzens) towards other Americans than at any time since the civil war? I tie this hatred, to professional hate mongerers such as Beck. The party winning the presidential election has lost seats in the mid term elections almost everytime in the past 40? years. The public is being brainwashed being thrown terms like "socialism" without even discussing the merits or complexities of a particular situation. "Socialism" is a branded word, that has been invested with negative meanings for 50+ years. Simply using that word, tends to stop public discourse, and goes directly the embedded negative meanings of the past. Americans are no longer thinking, but reacting to code terms. So you think you can invalidate any information from MSNBC, because of its so called 'liberal' bias. As if they could never be right. Were talking never. It's people like Beck, who have worked hard to make people immune to empirical evidence. Another word for that is ignorance.

I definitely did not like Bush and would have voted for any Democratic candidate. I really respect lots of Ron Pauls view. However, I dont agree with his views that 'small government' is a solution. This is because I see corporations becoming bigger and more powerful than ever. And I feel that government's responsibility is to the people, so that is our main hope of balancing the rule of money.

yodajazz, I agree with you: "... that 'small government' is a solution." As Noam Chomsky has stated: we, actually, need big government to protect us (or provide some protection) against these corporate behemoths. (And if one goes back a hundred years, well, it was actually conservatives who railed against corporations and concentrated private capital. Because if you have concentrated private capital, well, you will not have a democracy. Traditional conservatism is about being against centralized authority whether it be government or large corporations.)
When Tea Party members rail against government they aren't thinking about what's two steps behind government: big and powerful corporations. And people do have some say when it comes to government. People can influence government.
You can't influence a private corporation. They're non democratic institutions. They're top-down institutions. Power comes from above. The decision-making process is top-down. (Even shareholders don't have a say on the day-to-day decisions.) However, there's one good aspect to corporate structures: they don't tolerate corruption.
Corporations, overall, should reflect the interests of the shareholders and the workers and the stakeholders. Meaning: the community.
Corporations don't take into account externalities. (Even Milton Friedman said this is a big problem.)
An externality is the effect of a transaction between two individuals on a third party who hasn't consented to the carrying out of that transaction. Take, say, the buying of a car. The buyer and seller are looking to get the best deal possible. What they don't take into account is the effect on other people. Pollution. Congestion. Higher gas prices.

[onmyknees]

Can you admit that there is now more hatred from Americans (US cititzens) towards other Americans than at any time since the civil war? I tie this hatred, to professional hate mongerers such as Beck. The party winning the presidential election has lost seats in the mid term elections almost everytime in the past 40? years. The public is being brainwashed being thrown terms like "socialism" without even discussing the merits or complexities of a particular situation. "Socialism" is a branded word, that has been invested with negative meanings for 50+ years. Simply using that word, tends to stop public discourse, and goes directly the embedded negative meanings of the past. Americans are no longer thinking, but reacting to code terms. So you think you can invalidate any information from MSNBC, because of its so called 'liberal' bias. As if they could never be right. Were talking never. It's people like Beck, who have worked hard to make people immune to empirical evidence. Another word for that is ignorance.

I definitely did not like Bush and would have voted for any Democratic candidate. I really respect lots of Ron Pauls view. However, I dont agree with his views that 'small government' is a solution. This is because I see corporations becoming bigger and more powerful than ever. And I feel that government's responsibility is to the people, so that is our main hope of balancing the rule of money.

I would agree that many Americans are angry that at any time I can recall. I don't think hate is a world I'd use. You're a smart guy Yodajazz, so you must know this goes much deeper than Beck. He gets a million viewers a night. The latest census tell us there's 308 million folks here in the US, so something else is at play here. I won't defend Beck...it's not my deal, but if he's so hateful....why was his rally so absolutely peaceful ? Surely one or two of the half million people would not be able to control themselves and there would be the press to chronicle it...but it never happened.

If you want to be honest....you need to look in the mirror as an Obama supporter to find some of the source of that anger. He's done as much to enflame passions as any president in modern history. On this I am as certain as death and taxes....Bush for all his faults( and he had many) NEVER dismissed or disrespected his foes. He continues that today. Obama engages in the devisive, back handed slights at every chance he gets. If you'd like me too...I'd be more than happy to chronicle them if we have enough space on this forum. His comments about clinging to guns and religion and conservatives as the enemy and getting in the back bus are not helpful. I'll tell you something else, if you're looking to truly scrape the surface and find the source of the anger...it's the constant bashing of the Tea Party's as racist. Believe me when I tell you this....the constant narrative spun by the left to disarm the efficacy of the Tea Party's and use race as the club has damaged this country immeasurably. They should be hung for the damage they've created. I'm certain you don't agree with the Tea Party premise, that's fine...but let's say a political grass roots movement starts and you begin to associate yourself with it. They seem to be saying and feeling what you believe. You begin to assemble, and organize. You are clumsy at first as you're not professional organizers. Over many months, your movement has grown in size and focus. You have never felt better about your country, or the power you as a singular American has to change the process. Then one day you wake up, and a seemingly coordinated effort from prominent liberal politicians, liberal columnists and pundits, The Speaker of the House, The NAACP, most major op-ed pages in most major cities, The President and his staff, and the 3 major networks as well as most cable entities are calling you racists...... a term once held for only the most despicable amongst us. Even the rhetorical question , when asked suggests an evil intent. For example ...Katie Couric is too smart to call The Tea Parties racists, so she poses the question... I has the intended effect. Do you think just maybe that poured 100 octane fuel on a simmering fire? Call them ill informed, or foolish, or without substance, but calling them racist....?? them's fightin' words. It was a calculated campaign by the liberals. It may have worked to preserve some democtatic seats, but it wounded the nation deeply. Any dirty trick the Conservatives can muster, pales in comparision to dividing the country on race. That's why this anger runs so deep.
There is a newly elected Congressman from Florida. His name is Col. West, an African American conservative. Keep an eye on him. The Tea Party would follow this guy to the gates of hell, and he's as black as coal. Race has nothing to do with it.

Now then onto your question of Socialist....I think it would have been more palatable and intellectually honest to preface it with Democratic. Obama is a Democratic Socialist. I don't know why that offends some. That's exactly what he is....A European style Socialist. Not the same as Lenin and Marx, of course...but there's just no denying his policies are more politically tied to France and other European social democracies, than any President in my lifetime. Of course some wanted the electorate to subliminally associate Socialist with Communist, and they were wrong for doing that....Even the "Progressive" Magazine urges liberals to stop running from the term Democratic Socialist. Social Democrats until recently were major political forces in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Spain, France, Germany, and most other nations. There's nothing derogatory about the label whatsoever. Goggle it...read the party platform, and then tell me that's not precisely what Obama believes. Socialist ? NO ...Democratic Socialist? YES.

[Ben]

Do Republicans Still Need Beck?
By Adam Serwer


James Downie writes about Glenn Beck's descent into ever more elaborate conspiracy theories and lower ratings:

Just six months later, however, Beck seems to have traveled somewhere else entirely. His ratings and reputation are in steep decline: His show has lost more than one million viewers over the course of the past year, falling from an average of 2.9 million in January 2010 to 1.8 million in January 2011. He now ranks fifth among Fox’s six weekday talk hosts, trailing lesser-known personalities like Shepard Smith and Bret Baier. Beck’s three-hour radio show has been dropped in several major cities, including New York and Philadelphia, and has seen a ratings decline in most other markets. “It’s hard to gain a million viewers,” says Eric Boehlert, who follows Beck’s shows for the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters, “but it’s really hard to lose a million viewers.” And Beck’s fall contrasts with the fortunes of other Fox News hosts, like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, whose TV ratings stayed solid throughout 2010.

Downie suggests that this is because Beck's conspiracies have gotten more baroque and apocalyptic. I'm not so sure -- but I think the answer may be in this Pew poll Ben Smith flagged yesterday showing that the number of people "angry at the federal government" has declined by 9 percent. According to Pew, "much of the decline" comes from "Republicans and Tea Party supporters." Republicans have calmed down, and Beck has stayed high-strung.
The whole Republican narrative is based on the idea that conservatives are the "real Americans" and that liberals and Democrats are illegitimate democratic actors who only gain power through illicit means. Beck and his chalkboard met the need conservatives had to persuade themselves of this in the aftermath of political losses in 2006 and particularly 2008. Republicans, having regained control of the House and excised the existential crisis caused by losing the presidential election, feel like things are "getting back to normal." So they simply don't have the same appetite for the kind of cathartic insanity Beck provides. It's not really that Beck has really changed; it's that Republicans don't really need him anymore.

[Faldur]

I don't the folks at Fox are going to get too excited about that. Last Friday he ranked 4th on the night, and for goodness sakes the guy is on at 5pm. His total audience Friday was more than his 5 other competitors combined. I think thats a pretty safe bet. Feel free to check for yourself.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...h-4-2011/84867

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...h-3-2011/84673

[onmyknees]

I don't the folks at Fox are going to get too excited about that. Last Friday he ranked 4th on the night, and for goodness sakes the guy is on at 5pm. His total audience Friday was more than his 5 other competitors combined. I think thats a pretty safe bet. Feel free to check for yourself.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...h-4-2011/84867

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...h-3-2011/84673

Agree...I never was a huge Beck guy, I can take him in small doses and he certainly does his research...I just can't take the deep physiological conspiracy theories on a nightly basis. He does draw some interesting dotted line conclusions, and he and he alone was responsible for Van Jones taking a powder. Hell...he's a top selling author, has a popular web site, well listened to radio program, so maybe he's set to blow off the TV gig.

[Faldur]

It's really kind of funny, if Beck is in trouble with his viewership, where is Chris Matthews with 33% of Beck's viewers. I think Chris might be the one polishing up his resume.

[onmyknees]

It's really kind of funny, if Beck is in trouble with his viewership, where is Chris Matthews with 33% of Beck's viewers. I think Chris might be the one polishing up his resume.

That is pretty funny. Yea "Tingles" seems to have seems to have mistakenly collided with reality lately except for last night when he played a clip of Newt making a speech. Newt was doing what every person I've ever seen do when public speaking...his hands were moving. Tingles felt it was some biblical message ( Christ like) to the Evangelists he was speaking to. This guy is really certifiable !! LMAO