Common Ignorance

Written : Sep. 7, 2010

Glenn Beck is a talk show host, not the leader of a movement. Yes, he does have fans. Yes, he held a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on 8/28/10, the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech. Yes, he did it for altruistic reasons. King captured the hearts of all men with his inspiring speeches. Yes, you can be white and love the man. Yet, some have questioned Beck’s motives for choosing 8/28. But, just because King spoke on 8/28/63 at the same memorial, does it mean no one else ever can, or should?

The right sees Beck as a sincere, intelligent, and enthusiastic individual, and most treat him as the talk show host he is, not as some kind of cult leader. However, the left sees Beck as they saw George W. Bush and as they see Sarah Palin, as an evil, fork-tongued, devilish moron. They do hate him. I cannot fathom why.

In order to understand how the left views Glenn Beck, you should follow Alexander Zaitchik on the internet and watch him on TV. He appeared on Laura Flanders’ GritTV show on PBS in August of 2010. If I were to lampoon him the way he ridicules Glenn Beck, I’d say Zaitchik was there to push his angry, mean-spirited, left-wing rhetoric and to hawk his book, Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance. But, I wouldn’t do that.

Zaitchik and Flanders, along with another guest, Rick Perlstein, all took turns slandering Beck as a racist nut job, among other things. I can say the name-calling was childish, and not in good taste. Like those who openly hate others, they delighted in exposing Beck’s lurid past as a drunk and a drug addict. Should we really treat people we disagree with this way? How does using derogatory language help our understanding in an intellectual discussion?

Beck does admit he’s a recovering alcoholic and says he experimented with drugs before hitting rock bottom. Shouldn’t sensitive people such as Zaitchik and Flanders show a twinge of sympathy toward a man who picked himself up off the floor of defeat and found success?

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, Glenn Beck, Laura Flanders, Alexander Zaitchik, Rick Perlstein, Grit TV

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right ", “Conservatism”, “Conservative blog”, “Glenn Beck”, “Laura Flanders”, “Alexander Zaitchik”, “Rick Perlstein”, “Grit TV”

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A Success Story

Written : Feb. 2, 2010

Charles Payne was the star, but Black conservatives were the focus on Glenn Beck’s Jan. 10, 2010 special, “Time to Be Heard”. This was a unique look at a unique subject. Try as you may, you won’t see anything like that on CNN! Recorded before an audience of Blacks who see themselves as conservative, it began with Payne showing Beck where he grew up in Harlem, in New York City. Payne, who can be seen on various FOX networks, said things have improved since he lived there, but described decrepit conditions where his mother, two brothers, and he lived. His brothers and he “shared a room”. Poverty was comfortable for many, but Charles wanted out. He longed to be a business man.

Charles Payne wanted to own a briefcase when he was little. One Christmas, his mom provided one in the form of a present. “When I opened it up, there was a calculator in there, too”, Payne told Beck. His glee was short lived, as you can imagine. The briefcase was left in a classroom one day, and Payne said, “I come back and it’s cracked open…it just blew me away because my mother worked so hard. I worked hard.” Payne was beaten for wanting to excel; beaten for “talking white”, as Beck put it. Payne said he was picked on for “being different.”

There are two ways of looking at Payne’s early situation. Either you want a father, or father-like figure to step in and fix everything for Charles and force it to be better – or, you want Charles to tough it out, do the best he can; succeed on his own merits. Beck likened it to a situation where there are two brothers. One is a hard worker and succeeds, while the other doesn’t. Their father keeps taking from the successful brother and transfers it to the other. “What does it teach?”, Glenn asked. With a second question he answered, “…at some point, don't both brothers give up?” One because it’s all taken away, the other because he doesn’t have to work. Beck calmly connected this thought with the government providing for middle class people while taking from the successful in our society.

Lisa Fritch, a talk show host herself said, “What socialism does is it kills the spirit of the individual, your right to dream, your right to say, ‘This is who I am!’ And so, now, we are being challenged with speaking out and saying, ‘I'm going to fight for my right to have a briefcase. I'm going to fight for my right to be a chef. I don't want to be a rapper. I don't want to be a football player. My dream might be...’" So, think about your dreams and future successes. No one should ever tell you what they should be - or ever take them away from you!

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, Charles Payne, Fox Business, Glenn Beck, Time to Be Heard

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right ", "conservative blog", "conservative blogs", “Charles Payne”, “Fox Business”, “Glenn Beck”, “Time to Be Heard”

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