Why I Can't Stand Glenn Beck

I have been a long-time fan of Glenn Beck - long before his show on Fox News, or even his now defunkt show on Headline News.  I even recently wrote a column defending his stance on Social Justice.

I want to be a Glenn Beck fan...but I can't.

I've never really cared to watch Glenn Beck on television - he's always come across as scripted and insincere.  I was always a fan of his radio show, where he shared honest, sincere viewpoints and, for the most part, lived up to the show's tagline, "The fusion of Entertainment and Enlightenment."  Over time, though, the show's emphasis shifted much more towards enlightenment than entertainment, making it much less enjoyable to listen to, but Beck tended to be right on the issues, and he offered a historical perspective you just couldn't find anywhere else.

Take away the microphone, and Beck is what many conservatives strive to be: someone who started out in a hard-working, middle-class family, worked hard, started his own business, and grew it into a massive success.  Throw the microphone back in, and you've got the nation-wide sensation that conservatives love and liberals love to hate.

And even though I used to love listening to Glenn Beck and the unique perspective he brings to conservative media, I just can't stand him anymore, for a couple of reasons.

To preface this, I first realized that I couldn't handle The Glenn Beck Program anymore when I turned my radio back on after giving up on talk radio for a couple of weeks.  I was stressed enough at home and at work; I didn't need the extra aggravation of hearing each day how the liberal progressives were screwing America.

But when I turned the radio back on, the Glenn Beck Program seemed different.  There was no "fusion of entertainment and enlightenment."  The show wasn't entertaining, and frankly, wasn't all that enlightening anymore.  The show consisted primarily of two things: Glenn Beck preaching religious conservatism, and Glenn Beck bemoaning the fact that liberals were out to get him.

I'll cover the first point just by saying this: when I want to hear a sermon, I go to church.  Beck used to use logic and history to argue his points, but more and more it seems that he's using his religious views more than logic or history, which in the end just makes him easier to dismiss as a right-wing religious wacko.  Conservatism doesn't need that, especially from as popular a media figure as Glenn Beck.

The other point is a little more touchy, because it deals with finding a happy medium.  I think just about every talk show host that gets criticized spends some time going over the critics and the criticism, offering counter-arguments, etc.  But for talk show hosts, it is very important that they not take that too far.  If they're constantly talking about themselves and how they're under attack, they end up coming across as egotistical and self-important, and that turns a lot of listeners off.  And that is what Beck is doing.  Ever since he started taking on the Obama administration by pointing out the numerous Communists, socialists, and otherwise leftist wackos in Obama's cabinet, the administration has fired back in various ways...and Glenn Beck took it personally...and it was all he talked about (when he wasn't quoting the Bible).

I've given the Glenn Beck Program a few tries since I stopped listening, and the results weren't pretty.  The first time, as soon as I turned the radio on I heard Beck quoting Deuteronomy.  I immediately turned the radio off.  The second time, he was in an uproar about how the White House was attacking him.  I gave him a little leeway this time, but after a couple of minutes I just couldn't take it anymore.  The third time, if I remember correctly, he was quoting Revelation, and the fourth time he spent several minutes talking about how his program did so much more research than anyone else.  I haven't tried again since then.

So, I would like to offer this piece of advice to Glenn Beck (who, in all likelihood will never read this):  Bring back the fusion of Entertainment and Enlightenment.  Listening to your program used to be fun.  Yeah, you took the issues seriously, but then you would do More On Trivia every Friday and lighten things up.  Frankly, I don't remember a whole lot about your show from when you were talking about the issues, but I do remember the first time I found your program on the dial and you were making fun of how fat you were.  As a fat guy, I found that very funny, and that's why I tuned in again the next day.  I remember the bit you did where you threatened to kill a puppy if people didn't buy enough copies of your book - that was a very funny bit.  I remember looking forward to More On Trivia on Fridays, and your "Revised Scholastic Films" bits.

And furthermore, use logic and history to argue against liberal progressivism.  That is, after all, how you rose to the heights in conservative media.  I'm not a Mormon, but I do agree with a lot of your religious views.  The problem is, when you're offering counterpoints to people who don't believe, they'll automatically disregard you when you use religion as an argument.  It's a great way to marginalize yourself, but doesn't do much more than that.

As I said before, I want to be a Glenn Beck fan, but when I have to wrap my head in duct tape before turning my radio on, not because of the issues of the day, but because of the host of the program, maybe it's time for me to say goodbye for good.  I'll give Glenn another chance after a while, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope that his show will get better...not with the current administration in power, anyway.

Thousands Of Protesters Show Their Ignorance

Today is May Day, that revered Pagan/Communist holiday that has now become the annual occasion where the illegal immigration lobby gets as many supporters together as they can, and proceeds to embarrass them all in the streets of cities throughout America.

Today, tens of thousands of protesters marched across America.  The entire protest, of course, is a huge lie.  These groups haven't given an honest protest since their first, when they marched in the streets carrying Mexican flags and declaring that they were on a crusade to take back the Southwestern United States for Mexico.  When they realized the legal citizens of America got more than a little pissed off when they did that, they changed their tune.

Now, the protesters carry American flags - in fact, there are so many American flags at these protests that I suspect the organizers are still purposely handing out American flags to people so the crowd will look patriotic, cutting down on bad press.

Of course, the thing that makes this year's May Day protests particularly voluminous is the recent passage of Arizona's immigration bill.  The basic summary of the bill is this: The Arizona legislature decided that it had given the federal government long enough to get their act together and protect the state's citizens by securing the southern border.  Since the federal government obviously wasn't going to act, it was time for the state to take matters into their own hands.

Under this bill, if a law enforcement officer comes across someone during the course of his (or her) duties who he suspects is in the United States illegally, he can check that person's immigration status.  If the person is in the US illegally, they are to be handed over to Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Border Patrol.  Illegal immigrants currently serving out prison sentences are to be handed over to ICE or the Border Patrol as soon as they finish their sentence. 

Critics of the bill call it "racist," "anti-immigrant," and have drawn comparisons to Nazi Germany, with officers demanding "show me your papers."  The truth, however, is that all of these arguments are false.  Mexicans aren't the only ones coming across the Southern border illegally, and even if they were, it wouldn't be racist to enforce our laws.  The bill also isn't anti-immigrant.  People are still allowed and encouraged to immigrate legally.

The "show me your papers" argument is also a non-sequitur.  It is true that immigrants and US citizens may be forced to "show their papers," should they commit a crime and the police suspect that they are in the country illegally, but the bill states that "their immigration status shall be verified with the federal government."  We're not talking about deporting someone just because he left his drivers license at home or didn't have a copy of his birth certificate in his shirt pocket.

The truth is that Arizona has long had serious problems with criminals crossing their Southern border illegally, causing problems in their state.  Drug smugglers bring hundreds of pounds of marijuana across the border each month.  Human smugglers and coyotes bring people across, sometimes the hard-working people looking for a better life that the news media loves to tout, but oftentimes for more nefarious purposes.

These are the people Arizona's immigration bill is aimed at, because these are the people causing problems for the state.  Recently, Phoenix was nicknamed "kidnapping capital of the US," largely due to drug and gang-related kidnappings.

Recently, an Arizona rancher was murdered on his own land.  It is suspected that the perpetrator was an illegal alien drug smuggler or coyote.  The sad thing about that case is that the murdered rancher routinely helped illegal aliens who were in trouble and in need of medical attention.  In fact, he had radioed in to his ranch that he was on his way to help someone in trouble before he was found dead.

But instead of paying attention to the important issues facing the state of Arizona and looking at the true reasons this bill was signed into law, the protesters would rather dredge up the same old, tired lies. 

Of course, for many of the groups behind the protests, it isn't about finding solutions for America's immigration problems.  La Raza (translated as "The Race") is a racist organization that wants to take back the Southwest for Mexico.  The Aztlan movement has the same goal.  Many of the groups, such as La Raza and MEChA also have ties to communist organizations - which is one of the reasons they have chosen to protest on May Day, aka "International Workers Day."

When watching the news and listening to the debate, don't believe everything you hear.  The news media has been strangely silent on the problems that have been plaguing Arizona (and also southern Texas), but the instant the protests started, they were there with cameras and correspondents.  Make sure you know the truth about the Arizona law, and let others know, as well, as the debate over this bill could very well shape the upcoming debate over federal immigration policy.