Glenn Beck; President Obama Is Sympathetic To (Terrorists) Cause

Glenn Beck

Normally, I tend to avoid writing much about Glenn Beck because I see him as one of two things: a con man using racial politics and nutty extremism to get an audience of crazies or a freak.

I suppose he could be a little of both.

Anyway, here is the latest craziness coming from Beck that I found particularly disturbing even by his pitiful standards of human decency.

From Media Matters for America:

GLENN BECK: The Japanese government has no plans to expand the 12 mile evacuation zone. Meanwhile, we’re loading up all of the diplomats from the State Department and getting out of there. Also something that I’m going to do tonight, I’m going to give the speech that the President should give in the Oval Office that he hasn’t, and I don’t know why. Our donations are way, way down for Japan. I don’t see Hollywood mobilizing. So, we will. The speech from my Oval Office, tonight. It’s amazing what’s going on, and I don’t really understand why yet I haven’t figured it out yet.

There’s another story that is very disturbing. And this just came in, it’s an alert from the Wall Street Journal. The Obama Administration is seeking an United Nations security resolution that would authorize a wide range of possible military strikes against the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. It is aimed at preventing them from overrunning the rebels and civilians in the country’s east. In discussions with other Security Council members, the Obama administration is making the case that a no-fly zone is not enough. It would be insufficient to save the rebel capital in Eastern Libya. So the U.S. is seeking a broad UN authorization for strikes aimed at holding back Libyan ground and air forces with the aim of protecting the rebel capital and avoiding a humanitarian crisis there. Military operations could include a no-fly zone but wouldn’t be limited to that.

Holy cow. What does this mean? You know we’ve been saying that – where is the President on Libya? Tonight, I lay out the case, and it’s not a smoking gun, and it’s not an open and shut case, but it is something that I haven’t found the right people yet, or the right evidence to link it all together, but I can feel it, that there’s something wrong with this Libyan thing. We were talking about it this morning, Pat. That the time to have a no-fly zone is not now.

PAT GRAY: Yeah, right at the beginning. Right at the beginning. Seriously, I mean, it’s progressed way too far just to do a no-fly zone.

BECK: Now it’s going to be a civil war. Now, now, this would be – think of this America, this would be the third country that America has ground forces or air forces or sea, that is in battle and engaged in a Muslim country. That’s insanity.

GRAY: Mmhmm.

BECK: And the time to support the rebels was at the very beginning when the momentum was there. There’s no momentum now. The momentum is the other way. I’m not saying we don’t do something to protect these people, but I’ll tell you, it’s very disturbing to me that our military could be engaged in yet another war in the Middle East.

GRAY: I think if you would have done this at the beginning, you would have been far less likely to have any kind of confrontation. You remember 1989 when we had that little run-in with the MiGs, the Libyan MiGs? And our -

BECK: – our guys

GRAY: Our F-14 tomcats took ‘em down.

BECK: Yeah.

GRAY: And there was not a peep out of Libya for the next 20 years. Libya didn’t make a sound. Well -

BECK: Yeah. [unintelligible]

GRAY: I mean, they had the couple terrorist activities. But, for the most part, Moammar Gadhafi was pretty quiet after that point.

BECK: Oh yeah. We were bombing his tent.

GRAY: Yeah.

BECK: There’s no – there’s, I mean, now, this is the problem with this president, it’s the same thing. Look at his pattern, the BP oil spill. This is the thing that bothers me. And it’s always patterns. The BP oil spill – we all know he used that to his advantage – never let a good crisis go to waste. And so what did he do? He wasn’t there – he was engaged, of course he talked about it, but he wasn’t engaged. Until it started getting out of control, and all of us were saying, where is the government?

GRAY: Mmhmm.

BECK: Where is the president on this? And he was strangely absent.

GRAY: Hasn’t it been like that with every crisis -

BECK: Everything. Every crisis.

GRAY: The Fort Hood – the Fort Hood shooting. He wasn’t really out front with that, and that was, you know, 13 U.S. soldiers being killed on their base. And then when he finally did make the statement, he comes out and talks about the – the Indian medicine man first -

BECK: Right. OK.

GRAY: – for two minutes before he even got around to the mention.

BECK: But here is – here is the point on that. I believe that’s because he just sees us as the oppressor nation. He just sees us as a nation who is and has oppressed the Native Americans and, and the Muslim communities around the world. And so he’s – he’s – he’s not with the terrorists, I’m not saying that, but he is sympathetic to their cause, which slows people down. You know what I mean?

GRAY: Mm.

BECK: You agree with that or disagree with that?

GRAY: Well, I don’t know if sympathetic to the cause is the right -

BECK: Sym -

GRAY: – phrase.

BECK: Sym – oh, uh – wait a minute, I’m not saying that he’s sympathetic with people blowing people up.

GRAY: Yeah.

BECK: I’m saying -

GRAY: I just wanted to make sure -

BECK: Yeah, yeah.

GRAY: – that people know that you’re not saying that.

BECK: He’s sympathetic, he’s sympathetic [unintelligible]

GRAY: Well I think he sympathizes that America has done some bad things -

BECK: Yeah.

GRAY: And, and so – [unintelligible]

BECK: The Palestinian plight.

GRAY: Yes.

BECK: The Palestinian plight – only like 23 percent of Americans agree with the Palestinians. But he is, I believe, he’s probably one of the 23 percent.

GRAY: Well, his pastor said it best, didn’t he, when he said America’s chickens have come home to roost.

BECK: Yes.

GRAY: Maybe he has a little of that sentiment -

BECK: Yes.

GRAY: – I don’t know.

BECK: Yes, yes. I’m not saying that he’s in league with the terrorists, I’m not saying that he agrees with bombings like that. But he is slower to react because he is a guy who is sympathetic to something that most Americans are not. We don’t – he has said it himself over and over, I’m tired of Muslim-Americans being rounded up in the middle of the night. That’s never happened. And if it has, show it to me, Mr. President because I will be with you on that. I agree with you that that shouldn’t happen. So show me the evidence, and I will stand with you.

But what’s disturbing about the BP oil crisis is it worked to his favor, it worked to his advantage by leaving it go for a while and not capping it, he had to have a massive disaster to be able to do what he did. Now is this what’s happening in Libya? Because the time for that, I mean, even France is leading this. Nobody, is – and the people are crying out, America. And everybody knows we’re the only one that can do it. We have the carriers right there. I’ve been on the aircraft carriers in the fifth fleet – 90 miles off the coast of Libya. We have them. We can do it. But the time to do it was when we had momentum and now, what’re we gonna – we have more troops going someplace? The possibility of it? We’re going to engage people with our military? What’re – what – we’re going to get involved in another war? What are you, out of your mind? It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense.

And here’s the other thing that I just want to share with those who think that the workers of the world can unite. What is happening in the world right now is exactly what happened in the 1920s and early 1930s in Europe, and it is the communists, and the socialists, and the Marxists that believe in one global order, and they believe that if the workers will unite – I mean, the people who took out the permit for the unions for the American Dream Act in Washington D.C., they say it clearly on their own website, the International Socialist Organization, that they believe that only the workers uniting will actually cause the revolution to happen.

Well here’s where they go wrong. If you look at what’s happening in Japan right now and you look at the spike of the yen, that is because people love their country and they are selling their stuff, and they are getting out of gold or whatever it is, and they are buying their own dollar, their yen, and they are going to invest it in their own country. When the whole world melts down, when America begins to fall on real hard times – and I mean, I – I hope I’m discredited on this, but I believe it’s coming. And when we fall on real hard times, they will say workers of the world unite, and they will unite all of the workers, but at some point the unions – the union workers will say, wait a minute, how are you going to balance the world, you’re giving our jobs to India, or Mexico, or whatever. And people become nationalists, that’s what’s happening in Japan. There’s no – I’m not saying it’s communist or anything else, I’m just talking about the yen – they’re becoming nationalists. We did it after 9/11. We protect our own countries.

And that’s what the Soviet Union, that’s where Lenin and Marx and Stalin all went wrong – is they think they can unite the whole world with the workers. But the first step where it starts to go wrong is people start to protect themselves and their own communities that they understand as communities. And the world does not accept this global order, it doesn’t, and when things get better in India or jobs go to India instead of here, they will not listen to a socialist saying, “workers of the world, unite” what they will listen to is a national socialist, somebody who says take care of America first, workers, you’re already unionized, you’re already together right? It’s them that is the problem, and they become national socialists, not international socialists. International socialism will not work, and it will turn the world to national socialism, which is the Nazi regime.

I don’t know how people don’t understand the logic of this, but it is true, and it happens the same way every time, and governments, and they, the, governments, or the people, that the radicals, they use the youth – which is happening, and they also use giant corporations. And they get giant corporations, some of them willingly, and some of them just acquiesce because they say, I’ll just get, ’cause they’ll let me survive, and I’ll be part of the survivors. You do not want to be part of those survivors, because in the end, they do not survive, because they always end the same way, always. Whether it’s Mao, Stalin, Hitler, or Mussolini, they always end the same way.

Beck, no one knows what you mean because you’re a freak.

One expects insane rants from Beck, but some of the stuff in here, with regards to terrorism and President Obama is disgraceful.

Aw, Lloyd Have Mercy … Right-Winger Attacks NAACP Over Image Awards, Van Jones

Van Jones

Black far-right commentator Lloyd Marcus is back at it trying to score points with conservatives (including Tea Party extremists) through his latest attack on something representing black people.

The saddest part of Marcus’s attack (an opinion piece titled “NAACP Image Award Reaches New Low”) is that he strangely attempts to use Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a weapon to take shots at the NAACP, organization president Benjamin Todd Jealous and NAACP Image Award recipient Van Jones, the victim of a vicious smear campaign led by right-wing extremist Glenn Beck and other on-air personalities at Fox News and on the radio airwaves.

Here is a portion of what Marcus wrote in his attempt to smear the NAACP and take another shot at Jones:

Dr. King’s once-great NAACP has become a negative, shameful tool of the left: overseers committed to keeping their fellow blacks dependent and subservient to the Democrat party. Including once-self-proclaimed Communist Van Jones [pictured] among the honorees at this year’s NAACP Image Award show last night epitomizes the organization’s descent into liberal Hades. Jones was forced to resign as the Obama administration’s green czar due to his radical, far-left ideas, which include believing the Bush administration blew up the towers on 9/11. Jones has spouted extremely vicious and vulgar comments about political opponents. NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous called Jones ‘an American treasure.’ Is Jones the ‘image’ that the NAACP wishes to present to young black America while treating black U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and black former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice like dirt? Utterly outrageous and shameful.

I am not sure I totally get the connection Marcus is attempting to draw to link the NAACP to Dr. King. That doesn’t seem to make sense to me. I don’t know that Dr. King really had a particularly strong affiliation or relationship with the NAACP. Contrary to popular belief, not all activists during the Civil Rights Era were directly involved with the NAACP.

Marcus’s column sounds like more right-wing hate targeted at Van Jones, a man conservatives have tried to portray as an extremist, as a communist and as someone who is anti-American (primarily to attack President Barack Obama through his association with Jones).

Right wingers are upset because Jones called Republicans “assholes” at some point in his life. To those who are upset about it, I say, “quit crying.”

Come up with your own awards if you don’t like the ones the NAACP Image Awards are handing out.

As for the comments about former U.S.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, I see a split decision. I don’t have a huge problem with Rice (I probably do not agree with her on a whole lot in terms of politics, and that is OK), but Thomas is a completely different story. Sorry, but there is not a whole lot of love over here for Justice Thomas.

As for Jones linking Bush to 9/11, that is disputed. Here is Jones, account of the controversial issue.

Whether people like Lloyd Marcus like it or not, people are not going to throw a talented and bright man like Van Jones under the bus.

I applaud the NAACP for recognizing a man who has given a lot to this country and has much more to give in the years to come.

UPDATE ON VAN JONES: Jones also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

More Proof That Glenn Beck And Bill O’Reilly Are Nuts

Just when you thought Glenn Beck (pictured) and Bill O’Reilly could not prove to be any nuttier, we have this (from Media Matters for America):

O’REILLY: Why do you think there’s a level of hatred against you and against me that there is? I mean, look, I was kidding about Bill Maher before. I don’t hate Bill Maher. I like –

BECK: I don’t either.

O’REILLY: I mean, he’s not my kind of guy, but I don’t want to hurt him. I don’t, you know — I’ll make fun of him. But these people want to hurt us. They want to hurt us. Why do you think that is?

BECK: I think because that’s the only way you can win the argument. Look, I mean –

O’REILLY: But they can’t win the argument.

BECK: No, I know that. So what do you do? It is — I mean, it’s why Woodrow Wilson put thousands of Americans behind bars. If you can’t win the argument, you have to shout them down, you have to call them racist, you have to call them names. You have to do whatever it is you have to do. If that doesn’t work, the revolutionary way is as Robert Creamer – as I pointed out on the show. Here’s a guy who went to prison for embezzlement — has designed the progressive blueprint that Obama is using. David Axelrod says that. In a newspaper article when I expose him, he says that we must do whatever we have to do, whatever it takes, to shut him down. Well, what do you think that means?

O’REILLY: Yeah. No, OK, I think that’s a good answer. There’s no other reason for it — other than jealousy.

This shows that Glenn Beck is nuts.

This is the same Glenn Beck who called President Obama and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor “racist” in different rants (which is puzzling since Barack Obama is half white).

This from the same Bill O’Reilly who routinely goes on the air and calls many who disagrees with him “loons,” “pinheads,” “kooks,” etc.

This from the same Bill O’Reilly who has his tough-guy “producer” stalk women like the vacationing Amanda Terkel from Think Progress (and then later crying like  a sissy because people bother poor Sarah Palin when she is on vacation).

This from the same Bill O’Reilly who routinely uses his platform to attack NBC and anything affiliated with it (to satisfy his personal vendetta).

Playing Politics With Haiti Is Stupid … Even By Glenn Beck’s Standards

Take a peek at this comment I discovered on Think Progress from Fox News and radio talk show host Glenn Beck, a far-right talker.

Today on his radio show, Fox News host Glenn Beck jumped on the bandwagon:

BECK: I also believe this is dividing the nation…to where the nation sees him react so rapidly on Haiti and yet he couldn’t react rapidly on Afghanistan. He couldn’t react rapidly on Ft. Hood. He couldn’t react rapidly on our own airplanes with an underwear bomber…it doesn’t make sense. [...] Three different events and Haiti is the only one. I think personally that it deepens he divide to see him react this rapidly to Haiti.

Here is one major difference between Haiti and the other two examples cited by Beck. In Fort Hood, the tragedy (13 people killed) happened and then it was contained. In the failed attempt at a terrorist attack on Christmas in Michigan (three people were burned … including the alleged attacker), it happened (or was attempted) and quickly was contained. In Haiti, however, the tragedy continues, people need medical attention, thousands have died or are dying, people need food, people need shelter, people need protection. The U.S. had to act quickly in Haiti for those reasons and in case of potential aftershocks in the wake of such a devastating earthquake.

It’s not a situation where a black president is simply trying to help in Haiti because they’re black, as one prominent right winger suggested.

Glenn Beck Vs. Glenn Beck On Racism … Courtesy Of Media Matters For America

This video shows a small taste of the idiocy of Glenn Beck.

Amazing How Republicans Become Racially Sensitive When They See Opportunity To Attack Democrats

Republicans have had a rather dubious in regard to race relations for decades, but it seems their sensitivity to race has recently been heightened. The right-wing has spotted some blood in the water and is going after one of its favorite targets: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who likened the Republican health care opposition to slavery. As one might expect, right-wing nuts emerged from everywhere to pounce on Sen. Reid and accuse of him of playing the so-called race card (one of angry Michelle Malkin’s favorite terms). Malkin is just one of a gang of conservatives moving into to attack like one of the groups from the legendary Michael Jackson music video, “Beat It.”

As Media Matters for America has pointed out, however, conservatives have for years attacked progressives (in particular) blacks for being slaves to the government. We’ve routinely heard from conservatives that people who are on welfare are like slaves and that if health care is enacted that people will essentially become slave-like.

Here are the remarks Media Matters for America cited from conservatives (with the usual subjects in Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin leading the way):

Fox’s Bolling: “Were you shocked as I was when I heard him?” On the December 7 edition of Fox News’ Your World, guest host Eric Bolling — who also frequently guest hosts for Glenn Beck — asked Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (TX): “[W]ere you shocked as I was when I heard him compare — if you were against health care, you may actually be in favor of slavery?” Bolling later asked if Reid’s comments were an indication of “desperation” about health care reform.

FoxNews.com: Reid “took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday.” In a December 7 article, FoxNews.com wrote that Reid “took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday, comparing Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung to the institution of slavery more than a century ago.”

Limbaugh: “This is outrageous.” On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh said that Reid’s remarks were “outrageous, because Harry Reid knows the Republican Party was born in the fight against slavery.” Limbaugh added that Reid’s remarks are an indication of what Democrats have “been reduced to.”

Malkin: Reid “playing the race card.” In a December 7 post, Michelle Malkin wrote that Reid was playing the race card in his remarks, adding: “I’m sure Nevadans appreciate being likened to slavemasters, too.”

It just goes to show the nuts at Fox News along with a cabinet-level nut like Malkin and the NOTUS (Nut Of The United States) Rush Limbaugh are the biggest of the hypocrites.

Where was Michelle Malkin’s outrage when Glenn Beck used slavery multiple times to attack progressives.

This is another way some conservatives gleefully spit in the face of minorities and act as if minorities are not smart enough to sift through the B.S. and middle-America whites are not smart enough to understand their game.

Check out the evidence Media Matters for America displays to show that conservatives lacked the outrage when they’re diversity-challenged side has made comments using slavery.

Here Is Another Voice On Glenn Beck Insulting The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech

This is from the Glenn Beck Sucks Blog in reference to Glenn Beck’s effort to disrespect Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Here is an excerpt from the blog:

And one last thing, Beck thinks he is the white Martin Luther King. At the rally and in a letter on his website, Beck said he plans to organize a series of conventions in seven regions of the country, where his supporters can go to learn about self-reliance, community organizing, the economy and how to be a political force in your own neighborhood and country. The conventions will lead to a new book by Beck called “The Plan” and he will have a march on Washington to promote it:

BECK: All of the above will culminate in “The Plan” a book that will provide specific policies, principles and, most importantly, action steps that each of us can take to play a role in this Refounding.

On August 28, 2010, I ask you, your family and neighbors to join me at the feet of Abraham Lincoln on the National Mall for the unveiling of “The Plan” and the birthday of a new national movement to restore our great country.Notice the date of Beck’s rally, it’s the same day as the anniversary of the I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let me give you Glenn Beck lovers a reality check. Glenn Beck is doing all this insanity to get rich, it’s all about money. Everything he does is to make him more money from his book sales, his radio show, and his tv show. He is a fraud and a con man, and a crazy one at that. And anyone who listens to one word he says it a lunatic who needs mental help.

Check out the Glenn Beck Sucks Blog to keep up with all of the craziness that Beck displays on a daily basis.

Sadly, this goes beyond humourous stuff. This is a direct insult by Glenn Beck of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

That is unforgiveable.

Glenn Beck To Hold March In Washington On Anniversary Of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Historic ‘I Have A Dream Speech’

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a historic and important address that we have since come to know as the “I Have a Dream” speech. During that speech, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King called for the people and the government to bring racial equality to reality and to end discrimination in the United States of America. To commemorate Dr. King’s important, sensational and inclusive speech, the divisive and hostile opportunist, right-wing nut Glenn Beck, plans to exploit the great things that Dr. King fought for to advance his bigoted points of view and make a few bucks selling books.

Here is the entire text from the “I Have a Dream” speech (I put it all here because people need to see the entire speech and not just the selected excerpts):

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³

So now we go from the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the greatest men who ever lived, to someone like Glenn Beck who is set to spit in the faces of black people by holding his rally on the anniversary of “I Have a Dream” and in Washington D.C.

Here is a Facebook comment from CNN contributor Roland Martin, ”Guys like Beck HATE that speech. It was about demanding the govt. do what it’s supposed to do. This is an attempt to rebuke MLK’s vision.”

Roland is correct. Men like Beck selectively quote Dr. King by taking out of context bits and pieces of his speeches to slap down people of color. A lot of people have been conditioned to like Dr. King. Many of these people who have been conditioned to like (or grudgingly accept) Dr. King would be badmouthing him if he were alive today.

From the disgraceful Glenn Beck’s Web site:

- I have begun meeting with some of the best minds in the country that believe in limited government, maximum freedom and the values of our Founders. I am developing a 100 year plan. I know that the bipartisan corruption in Washington that has brought us to this brink and it will not be defeated easily. It will require unconventional thinking and a radical plan to restore our nation to the maximum freedoms we were supposed to have been protecting, using only the battlefield of ideas.

- All of the above will culminate in The Plan, a book that will provide specific policies, principles and, most importantly, action steps that each of us can take to play a role in this Refounding.

- On August 28, 2010, I ask you, your family and neighbors to join me at the feet of Abraham Lincoln on the National Mall for the unveiling of The Plan and the birthday of a new national movement to restore our great country.

This is an intentional insult to Dr. King and to black people. It is not an accident that Beck has chosen this date. Gleefully, Beck is exploiting the great deeds of Dr. King to insult black Americans, disrespect Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to make money selling a book.

From the Daily Kos:

When Glenn Beck called for his national rally at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 2010, he twisted the memory of the day for a country that has evolved from slavery to elect it’s first black president. MLK gave his “I Have a Dream” speech there 46 years ago. President Obama accepted the Democratic nomination last year. Tsk, tsk, ego issues, Glenn?

This is no accident and it speaks lowly of a man with a dark heart and a mean streak when it comes to minorities who don’t fit his vision of what people of color should be like in the United States of America.

This is a jab back and black people.

This is disgusting by Glenn Beck’s standards (and that is saying a lot).

Being A Black Conservative Is OK, But Being Pimped By Glenn Beck Is Foul

First and foremost, I have no problem with black people or anyone else who is a conservative on the political landscape.

But, when I saw a group of blacks taking part in a sort of black conservative summit on Fox News, I nearly threw up. I nearly vomited as I saw that Fox news right-wing nut Glenn Beck was leading this little forum. Frankly, I think it’s cool that black conservatives should have a forum and not be silenced due to intimidation. Sometimes unfairly (though not always), blacks who are conservatives are branded as sellouts by the majority of blacks who tend to support left-wing politics.

But, in all honesty, watching Glenn Beck lead this discussion involving black conservative turns my stomach. These black conservatives were used as props by Glenn Beck (even though I do think black conservatives should be heard from a lot more).

Seriously, can someone tell me where Kanye West was and why he did not emerge from the crowd or from back stage to grab someone’s microphone and bring this televised sham to a screeching halt?

It would have been perfect Kanye to interrupt.

I’ve heard some people refer to this as a town hall meeting and I’ve heard others refer to it as a plantation gathering.

One of the biggest problems I have with these black conservatives is they are legitimizing Glenn Beck and his divisive rhetoric. Obviously, not all black men and women have to support President Obama anymore than all white people had to support President Bush or President Clinton. But, to take a forum like this, on a network as divisive (especially racially) as Fox News is a slap in the face to a lot of black people who are sick of the racial politics being played by Republicans.

It’s a shame these black Republicans will not speak out – AND STRONGLY – against the hateful and racist images we’ve seen at these tea party protests. By not speaking out, black conservatives are essentially endorsing the racist and hateful images we’ve seen directed at President Obama. You don’t have to support President Obama, politically, to say “no” to racism at these tea parties and the racial politics being used against black people by even conservative Republican politicians.

I could certainly feel a lot more respect for black conservatives if they stood up against the racism, homophobia and more coming from the far right and the racial politics being played by a good number of Republicans.

Dislike President Obama all you want, but I call on black conservatives to come out and strongly denounce the hate coming from the far right.

The problem is black conservatives run away from race (practically yelling and screaming).

Many are in the racial denial stage.

The unwillingness of conservative blacks to confront such issues does little to solve so much of what continues to divide us.

I will leave you with this from the great blog The Field Negro who named the blacks who were in the audience and a part of the panel as “House Negroes Of The Day” on his blog site. Here is an excerpt from a blog entry by FN:

Still, I am glad for you folks and the fact that you got your shine on. Just be careful where that shine is coming from. (I once represented a guy who was on an episode of Cops. I am just sayin.) If you think Glen Beck is really your friend and that he really has your best interest at heart, go on and represent on his show. It might make you famous. Hell, you might even get a gig on Radio Rwanda. If, on the other hand, you are just trying to get your shine on, there has to be a better way. You don’t want to be just props to further someone’s agenda. Where did I hear that before? Oh yeah, I think it was “Gump” over at Crooks & Liars. Gump doesn’t sound so scared to me.

“Let’s bring in a bunch of blackies as props to further an agenda. It really doesn’t get much more racist than this segment. What’s even worse is these people willing to sell out their culture for conservatism. They know history and the truth when it comes to conservatives. I wonder how much cash Murdoch gave these people to stage this disgusting display.
This would be like me appearing in a segment about the mafia supporting conservatism because my ancestry goes back to Sicily. Fucking pathetic.”

Stop it Gump, those are my cousins you are talking about. You pick on one of us, you will have to pick on us all. They were not “props”, they did it for their people. They did it for America.

It’s too bad someone else could not have hosted such a forum. It could have been far more meaningful.

ColorofChange Joins Movement To Get Rupert Murdoch To Stop The Race Baiting

This is a letter ColorofChange is having people send to Rupert Murdoch and others in power at Fox News to demand they stop the race-baiting crap on our airwaves.

Dear Mr. Murdoch:

On November 6th, you clearly stated that you believed Glenn Beck was “right” when he called President Obama a “racist.” Then, on November 10th, through a spokesperson, you stated that you don’t share the same opinion as Beck, or believe that President Obama is a racist.

Which is it, Mr. Murdoch?

Fox News, under your leadership, has had a long, deep history of engaging in inflammatory racial rhetoric: attacking black leaders, black culture, and black institutions. Now you’ve been caught defending the words and behavior of Glenn Beck, the worst of the worst when it comes to race-baiting, whom more than 80 advertisers have abandoned–because of the very comments you endorsed.

Mr. Murdoch, more and more it appears that Fox’s problem with race starts at the top, with you. If you support Beck and others on Fox News using race-baiting, say so. If you have a problem with their tactics, tell us what you’re going to do to make them stop. You can’t have it both ways.

People must stand up against the garbage coming from Beck, Murdoch and many others at Fox News and throughout the Murdoch empire.

ColorofChange petition:
http://colorofchange.org/murdoch/

Join Media Matters For America Effort To Demand A Rupert Murdoch Apology For Agreeing With Glenn Beck Calling President Obama ‘A Racist’

“[H]e was right.”
– Rupert Murdoch discussing Glenn Beck’s comment that President Obama is “a racist.”

In July, Glenn Beck infamously stated that he believes President Obama is “a racist” with a “deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” These comments played a major role in at least 80 advertisers dropping their support of Beck’s television program. Numerous media outlets and personalities rebuked the comments, but Fox News gave Beck a free pass. Why?

Well, the reason is now clear: Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, agrees that President Obama is a racist. This is a new low even for Fox, and one we cannot let stand.

Since Murdoch refuses to rebuke Glenn Beck – we need to hold him accountable and demand that he apologize for his own hateful remarks.

Join us and demand that Murdoch apologize. We’ll deliver the signatures to NewsCorp: mediamatters.org/action/murdochapology

In an interview with Sky News Australia, Murdoch said of Beck’s notorious comment:

 

On the racist thing, that caused a [unintelligible]. But he did make a very racist comment, about, you know, blacks and whites and so on, and which he said in his campaign he would be completely above. And, you know, that was something which perhaps shouldn’t have been said about the president, but if you actually assess what he was talking about, he was right.

A Fox News host calls the President of the United States a racist, and his boss, rather than suspending or publicly rebuking him, says that his employee “was right.” We need to hold Murdoch and Fox News accountable for this incendiary, outrageous rhetoric. Please take a moment to sign our petition demanding an immediate apology from Murdoch. When you are done signing, please ask your friends to join our call for accountability.

mediamatters.org/action/murdochapology

Unfortunately, this type of race-baiting is par for the course for Fox News. As we recently documented, Fox News president Roger Ailes spent the better part of his career working as a Republican media consultant, during which time he became known for appealing to racial fears and biases for political gain. Under Ailes’ leadership Fox News routinely employs these same tactics in its ongoing campaign to destroy the Obama administration and the progressive agenda. Examples include:

• Hannity just can’t “get over” his Rev. Wright obsession. Sean Hannity — who claimed he “broke the story” about Obama’s controversial former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, during the 2008 campaign — mentioned Wright on at least 45 different episodes of his Fox News show between Obama’s inauguration and July 31.
• O’Reilly tease: “[S]hould white Americans be concerned about Judge Sotomayor?” Bill O’Reilly stated, “Next on the rundown: Should white Americans be concerned about Judge Sotomayor? Later, far-left Hispanic group says if you oppose the judge, you could be racist.” [The O'Reilly Factor, 7/13/09].
• Rev. Peterson: Obama was elected “mostly by black racists and white guilty people.” On Hannity, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson said, “I think we all agree that Barack Obama was elected by, mostly by black racists and white guilty people.” [Hannity, 2/3/09].

Murdoch’s comments are simply the latest example of Fox News shredding the last vestiges of its credibility. Fox News is not a news organization; it is an official arm of the GOP,openly advocating against President Obama and the progressive agenda. As the cable network has shown repeatedly, no tactics are too sleazy to further its goal of damagingprogressives. Murdoch has now given his stamp of approval to the idea that the president of the United States is “a racist.”

Demand that Murdoch apologize: mediamatters.org/action/murdochapology

Thank you for your continued help in holding the media accountable.

Eric Burns
President
Media Matters for America

To sign the online petition, visit: http://mediamatters.org/action/murdochapology/

Fox News Is No More … Make Way For Fox Commentary

Close your eyes and imagine picking up your newspaper and not being able to distinguish between the “hard” news content and the content on the editorial page. Now, open your eyes and (if you can stomach it) watch Fox News. The commentators and anchors are mostly the same – right wingers lying about being fair and balanced.

Check out this Media Matters for America clip to see how Fox News nutjob Glenn Beck hands the baton of bias off to fake anchor Chris Wallace, of Fox News Sunday.

 

More Anita Dunn Attacks From Right-Wing Nuts With Distortions

The right-wing nuts, led by Fox News has been on the attack against White House communications director Anita Dunn due to her strongly-worded criticism of the conservative network for its obvious right-wing bias (that includes both opinion and news content that leans heavily to the right). The righties have been working hard to falsely portray her as an admirer of former Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-tung and now the latest is a disgraceful and sloppy attempt (a “Hail Mary” to borrow a football analogy) by Fox News to grossly mischaracterize Dunn’s comments about the campaign strategy of Team Obama during the presidential election of 2008.

Media Matters has been leading the charge to correct Fox News misinformation on this issue:

DUNN: A huge part of our press strategy was focused on making the media cover what Obama was actually saying as opposed to, you know, why the campaign was saying it, what the tactic was, that we — we had a huge premium both on message discipline, on people in the campaign not leaking to reporters and people in the campaign not discussing our strategy, and also on making the press cover what we were saying.

So we, you know, one of the reasons we did so many of the David Plouffe videos was not just for our supporters, but also because it was a way for us to get our message out without having to actually talk to reporters; we just put that out there and make them write what Plouffe had said as opposed to Plouffe doing an interview with a reporter. So it was very much we controlled it, as opposed to the press controlled it.

That is what Dunn said, but here is how Fox News mischaracterized her comments to put them in the most negative light possible (remember that this is coming from a “legitimate news organization”) in an ongoing retaliation effort:

The Obama campaign’s press strategy leading up to his election last November focused on “making” the media cover what the campaign wanted and on exercising absolute “control” over coverage, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn told an overseas crowd early this year.

In a video of the event, Dunn is seen describing in detail the media strategy used by then-Sen. Barack Obama’s highly disciplined presidential campaign. The video is footage from a Jan. 12 forum hosted by the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development in the Dominican Republic.

“Very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn’t absolutely control,” Dunn said, admitting that the strategy “did not always make us popular in the press.”

This is, of course, a gross and irresponsible mischaracterization of what Dunn said. Fox misleads readers into thinking that Dunn was saying that the Obama campaign controlled the media which is false and irresponsible on the part of people at Fox News.

Notice how Fox takes single words quotations and frames them based on their own right-wing bias (an effort that is even more powerful considering its ongoing vendetta against Anita Dunn).

Here is how Media Matters boiled it down:

WorldNetDaily, followed by the Drudge Report and Fox Nation, falsely claimed that during a January 12 speech, White House communications director Anita Dunn boasted about the White House’s “control” over the media. In fact, Dunn was discussing the Obama campaign’s strategy for controlling the campaign’s message, not the media; moreover, her comments were made before Obama had taken office and before she became communications director.

So, the campaign was not controlling the media, but making sure its own message was controlled and consistent. This distortion by Fox News is done purposely and, I believe, maliciously simply to attack Anita Dunn in retaliation for her strong comments about what she perceives as bias on the part of Fox News.

Fox News, of course, responds like an elementary-school child would … with attacks, lies, gossip and essentially name calling.

Check out the Media Matters research to see the depth and breadth of the lies coming from the far right in a desperate attempt to attack Anita Dunn.

Is Glenn Beck Comparing Fox News To Jews During The Holocaust?

Fox News extremist talk show host Glenn Beck made what appears to be a rather disturbing and troubling comparison when he seemed to compare Jews during the Holocaust to Fox News. What is the matter with this man when he seems to be comparing poor, persecuted, misunderstood Fox News <sarcasm> to real people slaughtered duringthe Holocaust? Beck’s comments, which appear below, are disgraceful and demeaning to those who suffered through the Holocaust and to the memories of those who died.

Using scare tactics is bad enough, but bringing in the Holocaust is wrong.

BECK: When they’re done with Fox, and you decide to speak out on something. The old, “first they came for the Jews, and I wasn’t Jewish.” When you have a question, and you believe that something should be asked, they’re a — totally fine with you right now; they have no problem with you.

When they’re done with Fox and talk radio, do you really think they’re going to leave you alone if you want to ask a tough question? Do you really think that a man who has never had to stand against tough questions and has as much power as he does — do you really believe after he takes out the number one news network, do you really think that this man is then not going to turn on you? That you and your little organization is going to cause him any hesitation at all not to take you out?

If you believe that, you should open up a history book, because you’ve missed the point of many brutal dictators. You missed the point on how they always start.

The man is nuts.

Beck is whining because people are speaking out strongly against the right-wing extremism coming from Fox News and the dishonesty with which it denies what is plainly obvious. Now, Beck and others at Fox News are going into full victimization mode. Fox News cries (hour after hour on the air and post after post on the Web) because it says some people can’t handle its tough brand of questioning and tough talk. Then, Fox turns around and whines when people are tough on the right-wing news outlet with questions and comments.

Sen. Lindsey Graham Wisely Distances Himself From Glenn Beck’s Freak Show

Face it, Glenn Beck has been a true freak show for quite some time, but he does have his following. It seems some Republicans are finally working to distance themselves and the GOP from the loud lunacy of men like Beck, who has become (in the eyes of many) the new face of the conservative wing of the political spectrum. The problem is that Beck is so far to the right of the mainstream that he needs a chartered airline flight to get to the middle. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), speaking on Fox News Sunday, had some less-than-kind words for Beck.

GRAHAM: No, I’m not saying he’s bad for America. You got the freedom to watch him if you choose. He did a pretty good job on ACORN. What I am saying, he doesn’t represent the Republican Party. You can listen to him if you like. I choose not to because, quite frankly, I don’t — I don’t want to go down the road of thinking our best days are behind us. We need to act decisively.

People are genuinely upset with how much money we’re spending up here. But at the end of the day, when a person says he represents conservatism and that the country’s better off with Barack Obama than John McCain, that sort of ends the debate for me as to how much more I’m going to listen. So he has a right to say what he wants to say. In my view, it’s not the kind of political analysis that I buy into.

I don’t agree with Graham a lot, politically, but I do agree with him on Beck (even though I think he could speak out even stronger against Beck, Rush Limbaugh and other extremists on the right).

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/04/graham-beck-fox/

Were Haters Of America Rooting Against The Olympics Coming To The U.S.?

What is considered anti-American behavior these days?

It seems, increasingly so, that the line is being blurred as far as anti-American activity is concerned.

Many conservatives (who clearly do not have the best interests of this country at heart … particularly on this issue) actively were cheerleading against the United States of America in its effort to secure the 2016 Olympics and bashing a great American city like Chicago in the process.

This is from Media Matters for America:

Conservative media figures have celebrated the International Olympic Committee’s elimination of Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and used the event to bash President Obama, who flew to Copenhagen to lobby IOC members on behalf of Chicago’s bid. For instance, Glenn Beck called the news that Chicago’s bid had failed “so sweet,” Rush Limbaugh declared himself “happy” and “gleeful” with the results, and Matt Drudge proclaimed: “World rejects Obama.”

Right wingers have been pleased to see Americans fail in their bid to host the Olympics.

Why should career haters like Limbaugh, Beck and Drudge care about the hard work that so many good people in this country put in to try and bring the 2016 Olympic Games to the United States of America.

Many of these are the same people, with a stunning hypocrisy, have strongly criticized President Obama for supposedly not standing up for America. These same “great Americans” have been campaigning against this country getting the Olympics.

Here are some of the samples of right-wing glee over the U.S. losing from those “great Americans” out there:

Rush Limbaugh: For those “upset that I sound gleeful — I am. I don’t deny it. I’m happy.” On his radio program, Limbaugh stated: “Folks, the ego has landed. The world has rejected Obama. Chicago, the least number of votes, first elimination in the round of voting for the Olympics in 2016. … When you stop to think about it, folks, doesn’t it make sense? Our president, Barack Hussein Obama — mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack Hussein Obama mmm, mmm, mmm — had been running around the world for nine months telling everybody how much our country sucks. He’s been running around the world apologizing for the United States of America. Why would anybody award the Olympics to such a crappy place as the United States of America?” Later in the program, after reading a series of headlines about Chicago’s elimination, Limbaugh explained why he is “gleeful” and “happy” about the failure of its Olympic bid …

Michelle Malkin: “Goodbye, ‘Yes We Can.’ Hello, ‘No, You Can’t.’ “ Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin wrote: “Goodbye, ‘Yes We Can.’ Hello, ‘No, You Can’t.’ Like Icarus, President Obama’s giddy ego flight has ended with melted wax and fallen wings. This is a big win and a massive relief for taxpayers. But Chicago cronies are not going to take this well. Gird your loins.”

Beck: “Oh, it’s so sweet” that Chicago’s bid failed; “savor this moment.” On his radio program, Beck said: “Do not go anywhere. Don’t — do not look at the screen. Don’t — don’t go to any other radio stations. Nothing. You don’t want to hear this news — I mean, please, please let me break this news to you. Oh, it’s so sweet.” After a commercial break, Beck’s producer stated that “the first round of voting is up for the Olympic games, and the first city” — at which point Beck interrupted, saying, “Wait! Wait for it! Wait for it. Enjoy this — savor this moment.” The producer continued, “And the first city to be eliminated is Chicago.” Beck later asked his producer if Chicago’s elimination was proof that Obama had “failed.” [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Show, 10/2/09]

The greatness of this country is that it allows people like this, individuals who actively cheer against our country and the hard-working people of our country, to have such great platforms.

It shows the bitterness and sour grapes that people like Limbaugh, Malkin, Drudge and Beck are happy to see the country fail if it helps their far-right political agenda.

So, the greatness of this country means we have to take the good with the bad. But, this is really bad.

It’s good, in the long run, for Democrats.

With all of this hate, the Republican Party will continue to shrink and become marginalized.

Losing this one battle (disappointing as it is for some) may help the Left win the war.

White House Takes On Conservative Misinformation Coming From Fox News, Glenn Beck

The White House’s blog is taking on misinformation being put out on Fox News by the likes of Glenn Beck. As many of you know the far right has been going nuts about President Obama and others working hard to bring the 2016 Olympics to the United States of America. Anyone else remember some of these same Republicans criticizing the president for going overseas on so-called “apology” tours? President Obama is fighting for the U.S. to have the Olympics and many conservatives are fighting against bringing the Olympics to their own country. Where is the patriotism in these right wingers that makes them not want to work hard to bring the Olympics to the U.S. and showcase the greatness of our country? Are these conservatives now, all of a sudden, haters of America (so bitter they would rather see the Olympic games go to pretty much any other country)?

 

When President George W. Bush was in office this would have been deemed anti-American by conservatives.

 

From The White House blog:

Last night Fox News continued its disregard for the facts in an attempt to smear the Administration’s efforts to win the Olympics for the United States. In the past, hosting the Olympics has been a source of pride and unity for the country, but once again Fox News’ Glenn Beck program has shown that nothing is worthy of respect if it can be used as part of a partisan attack to boost ratings.

 

RHETORIC:          BECK SAID VANCOUVER LOST $1 BILLION WHEN IT “HAD THE OLYMPICS.”   Glenn Beck said, “Vancouver lost, how much was it? they lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics.”  [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

 

REALITY:              VANCOUVER’S OLYMPICS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL 2010.   Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12 – 28, 2010 and March 12-21, 2010, respectively. [Vancouver2010.com, accessed 9/29/09]

 

RHETORIC:          CHICAGO IS CLOSING THE GOVERNMENT SEVERAL DAYS A WEEK BECAUSE THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO BE OPEN. Beck’s guest Caddell said, “Chicago is closing the government several days a week because they cannot afford to be open. They are going to go and reward — this is the biggest scandal.” [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

 

REALITY:              CHICAGO HAS HAD ONE REDUCED-SERVICE DAY IN 2009, AND WILL HAVE TWO MORE ON THE FRIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING AND ON CHRISTMAS EVE.  On August 17, 2009, CBS Chicago reported, “If you planned to check out a library book, visit a city clinic or have your garbage picked up on Monday, you’re out of luck.   The City of Chicago is basically closed for business on Aug. 17, a reduced-service day in which most city employees are off without pay. City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most city offices will be closed.  Emergency service providers including police, firefighters and paramedics are working at full strength, but most services not directly related to public safety, including street sweeping, will not be provided.  That also includes garbage pickup. Residents who receive regular collection on Mondays should expect trash to be picked up on Tuesday. Some other customers may experience a one-day delay as collectors catch up.  As part of the 2009 budget, three reduced-service days were planned for 2009, days which are unpaid for all affected employees — the Friday after Thanksgiving; Christmas Eve; and New Year’s Eve. The City Council recently approved moving the reduced-service day planned for New Year’s Eve to Monday.  The 2009 budget anticipates saving $8.3 million due to the reduced-service days.   In addition to reduced service days, all non-union employees were asked to take a series of furlough days and unpaid holidays, and most non-sworn union employees agreed to similar unpaid time off.” [CBS Chicago, 8/17/09]

 

RHETORIC: VALERIE JARRETT WILL BENEFIT FINANCIALLY. Beck asked, “Is it possible that she is going to benefit if the Olympics come to Chicago?” Caddell responded, “Well, that’s the word. She has certainly had a lot of dealings going on in real estate.” [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

 

REALITY: UPON ENTERING GOVERNMENT, VALERIE JARRETT DIVESTED ALL HER REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT HOLDINGS EXCEPT FOR A SINGLE INVESTMENT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OLYMPIC BID. Valerie Jarrett divested all her investment real estate holdings upon entering government except for a single real estate holding that she was unable to sell. This single real estate investment has been determined by White House Counsel and the independent Office of Government Ethics to present no conflict of interest in performing her duties as a White House advisor.  It has nothing to do with the Olympic bid.

 It’s nice to see more and more people stepping up to combat this blatant  misinformation being spread all over the place (not to mention the ridiculous and unfair attacks on the good people of Chicago).

 

The White House Blog:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Reality-Check-Turning-a-Point-of-Pride-into-a-Moment-of-Shame/

Glenn Beck Finds A Black Person To Trash President Obama, Other Blacks … How Convenient

It’s always interesting to me how, on Fox News, there seems to be an inordinate number of people of color who are all too willing “ho” themselves out to trash other black people when people like Glenn Beck stand back and keep their hands squeaky clean. I bring this up in response to a rather intriguing entry on Media Matters for America’s Web site about a black woman who was speaking during a discussion led by Beck (who rarely misses out on opportunities to take cheap shots at people of color, but most notably black people).

This show was about what concerns “average Americans.”

If these individuals represent average Americans then that is a sad commentary. Thankfully they do not.

Anyway, here is an excerpt of what Media Matters had:

One of Beck’s guests, an African-American woman named Mary Baker, stated her belief that “in this time in our nation, we should be together,” before lamenting that, “It seems like we’re being so torn apart.” …

Regarding Ms. Baker, she is the author of a recently published editorial entitled, “Why I am no longer an African American,” a piece she mentioned on Beck’s program. The article argues that Obama’s election “has resulted in even more racial division” and that we are witnessing a resurgence of “anti-American sentiments” stemming form “the Black Power Movement, Nation of Islam, or the Black Nationalist Movement.” “The classification of me as an African American,” Ms. Baker writes, “says that although I live in America, my loyalty and allegiance are to Africa.”

Ms. Baker concludes her piece with the following argument:

Is this division amongst us perpetrated by our very own government? It is obvious that the inspiration for the classification of African American has nothing to do with those born of African descent. It is a radical group of Black Americans who hold to the anti-American views of those shared by Jeremiah Wright, Professor Gates, Jesse Jackson, President Obama and many others who came out of the radical Civil Rights Movement.

Promoting the idea that Obama’s election has turned black radicalism and nationalism into the official policies of the United States government is an explicit goal of the current conservative media movement. Stoking racial tensions is clearly a goal as well. And, as usual, the blame is fixed exactly 180 degrees away from where it should be. The promotion of such beliefs is not the work of the White House or MSNBC. Rather, it is Beck who is hyping the specter of race-based policies by invoking the theme of “reparations,” and it was media conservatives who called the president and his first Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, racists. By contrast, it was President Obama who, during his first national speech in 2004, stated plainly and unequivocally, “We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.”

How convenient this black woman named Mary Baker just happened to end up on this show of Glenn Beck’s. It’s a stunning coincidence this conservative black woman comes on to trash all these black people.

If she says she is no longer an African American then I say, “Don’t let the door hit ya where the lord split ya.”

The “radical Civil Rights Movement” she says.

So, civil rights is now a radical concept? The Civil Rights Movement was radical at its time, but for someone to say they see it that way nowadays is beyond disturbing (it’s Uncle Ruckus like … in reference to the self-hating character from the cartoon Boondocks).

Do we seriously have a female Jesse Lee Peterson?

It’s amazing the lives that were lost during the Civil Rights Movement so that people like this could have the right to say the kind of Jesse Lee Peterson-type garbage she is writing. It’s only appropriate she would end up on a show like this with Beck leading the way.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200909290030