Sunday, August 29, 2010

They're Mad As Hell

And they're "not going to take it anymore."  Glenn Beck has compared himself to the Howard Beale anchor-gone-mad from the seventies movie "Network."  The conservative star does occasionally come unhinged while still appearing more compassionate than the in-your-face rants of eighties talker Morton Downey, Jr.    As with Downey - or even the mythical Beale - when does the entertainment end and we consider the real impact of what they have to say?    There is no doubt our country is in serious persistent economic difficulty and people are angry.  The economy affects everything in our culture.   Tea Party people have a right to vent like the rest of us.    Most people reject the extremes.  I thought Beck lost credibility when he said the President had a deep "hatred for white people."  That should have been a deal breaker, although he retracted it a year later, but no.   This former Connecticut DJ from KC-101 has become his own wildly successful brand, but everytime I hear him I remain totally clueless as to what he is trying to say while he often likens opponents to Nazis.   How do you claim you had no idea your D.C. rally on the site of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was on that speech's anniversary while you're calling for "taking back the civil rights movement"?    And to say it's not political?   Give me a break.  As a former Connecticut DJ myself, this Glenn doesn't think there are many radio people prepared to assume the mantle of prophet.   As a student of history, I see the focus on a cult of personality as potentially dangerous.    

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