Last week, Foundation Beyond Belief launched the Pathfinders project, the precursor to a Humanist Service Corps that will work to alleviate pressing problems in communities with few resources around the world. As the media relations coordinator for FBB, I sent out a press release that was mostly ignored. One outlet that did pick up on the story was Glenn Beck’s The Blaze, where Billy Hallowell wrote a mostly fair article about it.
The other day I put up a post in which I said that I think Glenn Beck is bipolar or manic depressive. A colleague messaged me on Facebook and called me out on it, suggesting — politely — that I try to avoid using language that marginalizes or diminishes those who struggle with mental illness. As I reread the post, I realized that she was right and I sought out some advice on how to change the language I use.
Glenn Beck let David Barton and Rabbi Daniel Lapin take over his show and rant incoherently about same-sex marriage. Barton told another lie about Jefferson writing a law enforcing the Biblical definition of marriage, while Lapin said that people staying single leads to tyranny.
As the party bosses, ideological leaders and pundits try to find something, anything to help the Republican party overcome its electoral difficulties, many of the smarter folks on the right have suggested something they are calling “libertarian populism.” Russ Douthat spells out his vision:
Salon.com has a long article looking at an issue I’ve been writing about lately, how right wing talk radio, magazines and websites are pushing a whole range of get-rich-quick scams and quack medicine nonsense to their credulous followers, selling their mailing list for massive profits to companies advertising those cons.
Rick Wiles of TruNews continues to stake out the most extreme far right positions imaginable and he’s attacking evangelical Christian leaders who have refused to stop working with Glenn Beck. Beck is a Mormon, of course, and Wiles calls those Christians who work with him “Judases” who will answer to God:
Addicting Info points out something I have mentioned many times over the years with great amusement whenever the Super Patriots start blathering on about the pledge of allegiance: It was written by a socialist. And it was originally accompanied by a Nazi-style salute.
World class badass George Takei was on MSNBC recently and recited a portion of the pledge of allegiance while answering a question. But he didn’t include the “under God” part. Predictably, Glenn Beck’s website is clutching their pearls so incredibly hard right now.
Glenn Beck’s The Blaze frames stories and builds narratives much the same way the Worldnutdaily does, in a highly dishonest manner. A perfect example is this article and interview that claims Chief Justice Roberts was “intimidated” into changing his vote in the health care reform case. But the whole thing is spent establishing something we already knew, that he switched his vote.
While liberal intellectuals make reasoned criticisms of the illegal surveillance revealed by new revelations about secret programs, some on the right are going completely off the deep end and dialing the rhetoric up to 11. Glenn Beck and Rick Wiles both went straight for the Godwin. Beck first:
In the grand tradition of Glenn Beck telling his followers to beware of conspiracy theorists, Pat Robertson told 700 Club viewers that they should stay away from false prophets by checking their track record of success. My favorite part is his co-host saying that there so many people who are “self-appointed” prophets. Terri, all “prophets” are self-appointed.
Dispatches From the Culture Wars
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