Trumpism or Manhood? Glenn Beck Can’t Tell

In this world there are sycophants and suck-ups, and then there are the next level grovelers that make even the most accepting of us cringe with a heady mixture of embarrassment and disgust.

These are the desperate bootlickers, so beholden to their drive to be seen as the ultimate Renfield figure to their chosen master, that there’s nothing too outrageous or demeaning. They go all in, dignity and self-respect be damned.

We’ve seen far too many of those sorts in the age of Trumpism.

The latest to go full Trashcan Man to President Trump’s Randall Flagg is TheBlaze TV’s Glenn Beck.

Beck has always been a little “on the edge.” He was, however, at least reasonably skeptical of candidate Trump before the 2016 election, throwing his support during the primaries behind Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

When Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump at the 2016 RNC convention, Beck cheered his character.

When Cruz later rolled and offered Trump his fealty, based on the myth of a “binary choice,” Beck had harsh words for him, challenging him on his radio show in September 2016.

He even apologized to his listeners for his endorsement of Cruz.

“Do you have any new information that has made you say ‘Oh my gosh, he’s now not a sociopathic liar and now there’s suddenly a reason to believe him?'” Beck had asked Cruz on “The Glenn Beck Radio Program.”

Not satisfied with Cruz’s explanation, Beck delivered this to his listeners:

“That was so calculated that it was stunning to me,” Beck said. “I think I have to apologize and say, maybe, perhaps, those of you who said Ted Cruz is calculating and a smarmy politician, I think I may have to slightly agree with you and apologize for saying, ‘No, he wasn’t.'”

Beck was right.

He was right about Donald Trump. He was right about Ted Cruz.

His opinion of Donald Trump was the same that I’ve maintained from day one of Trump’s candidacy, to this very moment. There has been nothing revealed during that time to convince me that I was mistaken.

So what’s up with Glenn Beck, these days?

Beck has made an embarrassing dive into the deep end of the Trumpian cesspool, and the reason why is simple.

It begins with “mon” and ends with “ey.”

He’s found like so many of us have, that speaking the truth about this bare-butt emperor from a position on the right is not always profitable.

Believe me. I get it. I lost a solid paying gig when a certain rightwing media company determined that everyone under their umbrella would march in lockstep – or else.

No, they never said it outright, but the intent was implicit and the aftermath seen across the board bears that out.

Beck saw his own outlet struggling, so he did a bit of calculating, himself.

He’s gone into full red capped, MAGA-mania, and he routinely clowns himself in service to his new, orange overlord.

Principle? What principle?

On Thursday’s edition of his show, Beck launched into suckle-mode, lamenting the lack of truly masculine, virile role models in today’s society.

I’ll go ahead and say here that I am on board with that much of his rant. There is a lack of real men in the public eye, these days. That’s mainly because of the march towards total feminization of our society.

Men have been responsible for so much that is wrong, that the liberal media mavens who fancy themselves the conscience of the world have overcorrected and left little room for men to feel free to be themselves.

That happens anywhere that there is a degradation of morality. Part of the liberal overcorrection is to insist that women who lack moral fiber, themselves, should not be shamed for treating their sexuality as a party favor. Men who respond in accordance to those primal signals are then attacked, demeaned, and dragged over the coals.

Somehow, it doesn’t seem to occur to anyone in pop culture that maybe holding both genders to the same set of standards could work towards solving a lot of the societal problems we have today.

Both sides, men and women, have a role to play. They complement each other, when given proper balance and respect for their differences. Both are capable of immense good, or devastating levels of bad.

Both femininity and masculinity are lost arts, unfortunately.

Now with that out of the way, let me circle back to my point:

Glenn Beck has lost his mind.

Speaking on Thursday, he said:

There are no examples of men being men. James Bond. That’s it. A movie. There’s no male role models. Would you agree with that? So Donald Trump: here’s a guy who marries a supermodel, is like, ‘Yeah, I can make it with any model I want.’ He’s over the top, but he fights back, he doesn’t flinch… he is the almost cartoon of an alpha dog. You know what I mean? And I think because we have taken alpha dogs and shot them all, when he comes to the table there’s a lot of guys that are out there goin’ “Damn right!”

Beck is bucking to be an “A” student in the Lou Dobbs/Jeanine Pirro school if insanity.

So let’s just dissect this glorious rant of suck uppery.

First of all, let’s point out that Melania was never a “supermodel,” by the definition of the term.

She was a model. She was low level, at best, with some of her most viewed work being, um, “unsavory,” to say the least.

And “making it” with a supermodel, or any other woman is not the measure of manhood.

As for Donald Trump being an “alpha dog,” I dare say that’s an intensely laughable comparison.

He whines and lashes out at any perceived insult. That’s not fighting back. That’s puerile.

He grovels at the feet of tyrants and dictators, even taking their word over his own intelligence agents. That is not the behavior of a leader.

I’m going to go ahead and say that because of the lack of principle and actual manhood on his part, Beck doesn’t recognize it when he sees it, and at least attributing it to Trump keeps in the safety of the Trumpian pack.

So who are some examples of manhood that far exceed Donald Trump, Glenn Beck, and the trollish inhabitants of MAGAville?

Tim Tebow.

The Heisman Trophy winner-turned-pro-quarterback-turned-baseball-player is the epitome of both masculinity and grace.

He is self-controlled, gracious, giving of his time and efforts, lending his name and fortunes to the betterment of others.

He has backed hospitals to benefit underprivileged children in other lands, and his Tim Tebow Foundation (Please go here) has brought so much joy to special needs kids all over the world.

If his shining character isn’t enough to convince you, consider he looks as if he was carved out of granite.

OH, and Glenn – he’s actually engaged to marry a former, actual Miss Universe, not some back alley, peep show “model,” who needed a green card.

What about actor Gary Sinise?

There is no trail of broken marriages or scandals dogging Sinise’s heels.

He has used his fame from a long list of hit movies and television to return to the community.

With the Gary Sinise Foundation and his cover band, the Lt. Dan Band (named after his iconic character from the movie, “Forrest Gump”), Sinise has toured in support of our troops, entertaining those stationed abroad, raising awareness for the needs of vets, and offering an array of services to benefit those who have put themselves at the ready and in harm’s way to defend our nation.

You can check out all the good they do, here.

Or why name a “celebrity” man, at all?

Every day, there are men who get up, go to work, love their wives and children, and just have lives that are unremarkable, by the standards of a corrupt, Manhattan scam artist, or the people who put him on a pedestal.

They are, however, real men. They are doing what they’re supposed to do to keep our society rolling forward.

That’s the thing about real manhood. It doesn’t require a wide platform, but when it has one, it is used for good, not for self-aggrandizing. Not for attacking perceived “enemies,” or for seeking out the next, big grift.

Manhood and masculinity may very well be under attack in the world today, but it is not extinct, and if clingers like Glenn Beck think Donald Trump is an example of a real man, he’s part of the problem.