Glenn Beck: Huckster, Disinterested Creator, or Just a Guy on the Radio?

From Politico, via Hot Air's Headlines:

Glenn Beck is a polarizing figure. If he's not catching hell for crying on the air and pointing out the Marxism behind many members of the Obama Administration from the Progs, he's getting flamed by the far-Right for not being sufficiently SoCon in his views.

Now that he has dared to commit the Cardinal Sin of OARIWWHSAWAM (Organizing A Rally In Washington While Having Skin As White As Mayonnaise) on the 47th anniversary of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, he's not only catching hell from the Sharpton wing of the Democratic Party, he's also getting some "friendly fire"* from the right side of the aisle.

The criticism in this article runs the gamut from "It's all about HIM" to "He refuses to lead the 9/12 Movement that he started".

Regarding the charges of personal aggrandizement: Yeah, so? If a guy's not willing to make a few bucks for his family while he's performing a needed service, I'm not sure he's trustworthy. I'll have to confess to not being a regular listener to his radio show (it comes on while I'm at work, and I can't listen), and I usually work too late to see his Fox show (plus the fact that Glenn Beck can't compete against Curious George or Yo Gabba Gabba for the attention of a cranky two-year old when I AM home), but I've always thought of Glenn as "one of us". If he makes a little federal green off his worthwhile efforts at educating the American public about their history, then good for him.

And the charges that he's not involved enough in 9/12 activities? Isn't that the point? The reason that the Tea Party and the 9/12 groups are getting more traction than Ross Perot's top-down "grassroot" organizations ever dreamed about getting is precisely BECAUSE they're true grassroots organizations. Are the grassroots organizations going to make mistakes? Yeah, sometimes they're going to foul up royally. That's all part of the learning process. Once the multitude of local leaders have sorted through what works and what doesn't work our country will have a deep bench of effective local leaders. When you run it all from the top down, all you build at the local level is functionaries. And why not let local groups set their own priorities? A grassroots group from Arizona is probably going to put more emphasis on border control than a grassroots group in Missouri; and that's perfectly OK by me.

The grassroots movement doesn't need an Evita Peron or a "Lonesome Rhodes". They're doing perfectly well on their own. Glenn Beck should just laugh at this criticism on his way to cashing his next paycheck.

* As the old saying goes, "Friendly Fire........ISN'T!"

posted by Russ from Winterset at 05:30 PM

| Access Comments