posted on September 6, 2009 03:45:57 PM new
Looking for common ground in Glenn Beck country
One thing is clear: Free speech is not at risk.
By Steve Lopez
September 6, 2009
My journey deep into the heart of Glenn Beck country began when I caught a glimpse of the sobbing commentator on TV while waiting for a plane. I thought he was a televangelist at first, but it seems that he is instead a true patriot who can't suffer the reckless destruction of his beloved country by a racist African American president, among others, without tears.
I was tempted to cry as well, for different reasons, until laughter seemed like the better medicine.
The experience left me with questions: Who could take this man seriously? And was there a Beck fan out there who could make me see his appeal?
There are people, I'm sure, who wonder how anyone can watch MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann -- or read my columns, for that matter. But this cultural divide is destroying America, and maybe we all need to understand each other a little better.
My search for Beck followers began on the Internet, where Beck fan clubs popped up on my screen like a virus.
"Join a Glenn Beck Meetup Group near Los Angeles," said one site, which listed fan clubs and details about tea parties and other gatherings in the name of liberty and freedom.
The Santa Clarita group boasted 82 members.
"I'm twenty years old but my eyes are open," a new member named Rachel said on the group's website, vowing that "we will win this fight against radicalism."
"I love my God, family and country and want to save this country from ruin," wrote Maureen from Sylmar.
When I called Maureen by phone, her mother answered and said her daughter was out but that she shared her views: "This country is being hijacked."
"I'm a hard-working American guy that wants to be able to worship Jesus Christ, go shooting, say what I want and enjoy life," wrote the Santa Clarita group organizer, Jason Hole. "By the way," he added, "our government is preparing for civil unrest right now. I've seen documentation that states people will be considered terrorists if they wear blue jeans and talk excessively about the constitution. You're thinking I'm a kook, right? Look it up and you'll find it to be true."
When I called Hole, who works as a window washer, I could hear his squeegee in the background. "Glenn Beck is expressing what everybody is feeling," he told me.
And what is that, exactly?
That the country has moved away from the core values of the Founding Fathers. Hole said that he had "studied under" a guy he met at a gym and that this teacher opened his eyes to the abuse of federal authority, which President Obama will only make worse.
Hole said Obama has a "socialist, communist, fascist agenda" that must be stopped, because we're headed for tyranny and "fleeing from everything in the Constitution." He also said that when taxes are taken out of his paycheck, "that is stealing."
I pointed out that he had driven to work on roads paid for by those taxes, but he wasn't about to be diverted. He said he opposed a public option as part of healthcare reform, but said he was planning to switch to another private healthcare plan because of disappointment with his current provider, which isn't covering the care he needs.
And what about the tears? Does Hole believe Beck is weeping or pandering?
"I think you're right about the crying," Hole said. "The guy is an actor."
There's another thing Hole doesn't like about Beck, he admitted.
"Beck has said that anyone who has questions about 9/11 should be in prison."
Beck, he explained, doesn't believe it was an "inside job" involving U.S. agents.
And Hole does?
"I know it was an inside job," he said.
Hole suggested I talk to his uncle, Bill Gausnell, a member of the Beck fan club, so I drove up to Gausnell's town house.
Gausnell, a Vietnam vet and retired healthcare consultant and computer systems analyst, told me his views aren't as extreme as his nephew's. He said he was honored to have met John F. Kennedy while in the military, and he once campaigned for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). But he's now a Republican who is "pretty much a middle-of-the-road, average American when it comes to politics."
And what's the appeal of Glenn Beck?
"If you listen to him you've heard him say, numerous times, he's not a Democrat and he's not a Republican. What he is, he's an American."
Beck is right, Gausnell said, when he warns that the country is on the road to socialism.
"Obama scares the hell out of me," he said, adding that he believes some of Obama's key appointees are communists and that we may well lose our rights to free speech and to bear arms.
I don't know about gun ownership, but it seems to me that when a TV commentator can denounce everything a president does, and even call him a racist who hates white people, we're not in immediate danger of losing the right of free speech.
My next visit in Santa Clarita was with Hole's friend and guru from the gym, Jeff Sykes, who runs a nutrition shop. Sykes, it turns out, is not a member of the Beck fan club and said he doesn't even watch the show, in part because it's just that, a show rather than an honest examination of what ails America.
Sykes calls himself a constitutionalist who believes the federal government has assumed responsibilities that should be left to the states. He also believes, as does Hole, that 9/11 was "an inside job."
By whom and to what end?
He couldn't finger any specific person or group, but he was sure that the Twin Towers had been rigged with explosives and that the attacks were part of a conspiracy to consolidate wealth and power and to deny liberties.
Fortunately, I'd just eaten one of Sykes' energy bars, so I had a bit of staying power. I could even go along with the latter part of his claim -- that the threat to our security has been used to deny civil liberties. I'd go even further and say 9/11 was used to rally support for unjust wars. I also agree with Sykes that our two-party system is hopelessly corrupted by money.
But we returned once more to our separate planets when he told me he finds it interesting, and very suspicious, that the Washington monument is actually an Egyptian obelisk.
I thanked Sykes for his time and drove over to a new office building, where Hole was washing windows.
He is a soft-spoken, very polite chap trying hard to understand himself and the world around him. He told me his Glenn Beck support has actually diminished somewhat since he began learning the truth about America from Sykes and that other than the tea parties to protest taxation without representation, there had been only one official meeting of his Beck fan club since February.
Still, he shares many of Beck's values, which coincide with those of both the Constitution and the Ten Commandments.
I was getting dizzy by then. Maybe the 100-degree heat had something to do with it. I thanked Hole for being so forthcoming and then I hit the road, driving past Magic Mountain and out of Glenn Beck country at a good clip, headed for home.
--
_____________________
"Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who ***dared to dissent*** from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, ***may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."*** --Eisenhower
posted on September 7, 2009 08:16:13 AM new
Interesting. Did you happen to see Olbermann's take on Beck's tirade about all the secret socialist symbolism in Rockefeller Plaza? Hilarious!
posted on September 7, 2009 10:55:07 AM new
Someone please call the asylum to let them know one of their patients has escaped. It is the paranoid, weepy one who calls himself Glenn Beck.
posted on September 7, 2009 06:37:13 PM new
Because Glenn Beck took on the task of reporting on Van Jones and Olbermeier objected. He, Olbermeier, is probably upset that he didn't do his job and report it first.
He, Van Jones is a registered communist. If you don't believe me or Glenn Beck then do a google search and read his bio.
Ask yourself. Do we need people like Jones in the administration? It probably isn't Pres Obamas fault but appointing czars do not need congressional approval. That is one reason czars are appointed. Evidently the vetting process was not complete. Are there anymore?
posted on September 7, 2009 08:51:28 PM new
Now Van Jones will be able to resume his social and environmental activism without being confined behind a White House desk. He will be working for disadvantaged and middle class Americans who are without a home, job or health care. The tens of millions of Americans who campaigned and voted for Obama appreciate his good works.
posted on September 7, 2009 09:10:01 PM new
Here is another view
"Mr. Jones was poised to play a prominent role in disbursing tens of billions of dollars of stimulus money. It was the ideal perch from which he could keep funding the left-wing networks from which he sprang, this time with taxpayer money."
posted on September 7, 2009 11:44:05 PM new
Helenjw - You really want a communist in our government? Someone who like Rev. Wright spews obsentities and deminishes the American way?
As of today I am still free and I want for the future of America to stay that way. There is no room in the US Government for a communist. My hat is off to Glenn Beck.
If you will read biographical information on Van Jones and Rev. Wright you will find that both are concerned with welfare of Americans struggling to survive. And you will find that Van Jones is not a Communist.
What lack of "freedom" do you fear? As I look around my neighborhood I see people who have lost their homes, jobs, and, of course, health care. Although you may be more fortunate, you should have some concern for the millions of other Americans who are not. Isn't that the "American way?"
Right now, America is in serious trouble with people loosing their basic rights to shelter, safety and health care while our environment is being trashed. How can you really believe a radical right wing propaganda spewing TV performer like Glen Beck who is working NOT for the American people but for radical right wing groups whose evil agenda is to keep the elite rich and to hell with the rest of us.
One of Becks favorite devices is to label members of Obama's administration Czars. Oh, how threatening and hot damn, it brings to mind those scary Russians that Palin watches from her window.
Glen Beck and his Fox crew fail to mention of course that George Bush had quite a few Czars too....a "food-safety czar," a "cybersecurity czar," a "regulatory czar," an "AIDS czar," a "manufacturing czar," an "intelligence czar," a "bird-flu czar" and a "Katrina czar," ....to name a few.
posted on September 8, 2009 09:30:58 AM new
July 16, 2009 -- Fox News reported recently on the 34 “Czars” that President Obama has appointed to control various parts of the federal government, the economy, and our lives. .
While previous administrations had czars – Ronald Reagan had 1, George Bush had 1, Bill Clinton had 3 and George W. Bush had 4 –
So far President Obama has 72 and he has only been in office since January 20.
To have that many that aren't accountable to anyone is scarry
“At this rate, we’ll have 272 czars by 2012,” said Congressman Kingston. “It seems President Obama is in the midst of forming a parallel government to push his policies. Not only do they duplicate existing Senate-confirmed positions, they are completely unaccountable. I serve on the Appropriations Committee which is responsible for overseeing every dollar spent by our government but I’ve yet to see a single one of Obama’s czars.”
Helenjw I would hope that you will read the following web page even if it is from Fox News and see what is happening to our government. I haven't heard of any other news media that has reported this. People complained about GWB but President Obama is not being up front and it is scarry. I am not scared for myself but I am for my family and I can only hope that President Obama will do what he has promised. Remember Mr. Obama while running for President he prominsed us change. This is not the change that I want and I hope you don't either.
posted on September 8, 2009 10:18:25 AM new
Fox news is in the business of proliferating such fear that you have acquired, Fuscia. I have no answer that will assuage your fear other than to suggest that you try reading at least a moderate viewpoint.
For example, consider the fear that was disseminated about President Obama's speech to school children by the radical right wing Fox news. Following is a reply from a moderate Republican, Andrew Sullivan.
"Sit down. Take a deep breath. This is what the commie/fascist Muslim alien who became president via a forged birth certificate is telling your kids:"
"No matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
posted on September 8, 2009 10:41:22 AM new
helenjw posts "For example, consider the fear that was disseminated about President Obama's speech to school children by the radical right wing Fox news. "
helenjw and her friends hope that you will forget or do know know the dust-up that the Democrats began over a similar speech by H.W. Bush in 1991. She and others on this board would portray the concern of parents of all political persuasions as "radical right wing" while ignoring or accepting the actions of Democrats in the past.
Consider that " when President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech on October 1, 1991, from Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington DC, the controversy was just beginning. Democrats, then the majority party in Congress, not only denounced Bush's speech -- they also ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate its production and later summoned top Bush administration officials to Capitol Hill for an extensive hearing on the issue."
If you read that link carefully, you will notice that even your source admitted that there was NO criticism BEFORE the speech in the case of H.W. Bush.
posted on September 8, 2009 11:32:31 AM new
Is that how you rationalize labeling concerned parents as right wing radicals while accepting or ignoring the actions of the Democrats in 1991?
Where have I labeled concerned parents as right wing radicals? Some parents were victims of right wing radicals such as those found on Fox News and the entire MSM.
Now, even you should see that Glen Beck did not tell the truth. Obama's message to the children was brief, encouraging and personal.
On the other hand, H.W. Bush was criticized because he used the speech in 1991 as a political opportunity to reach beyond his student audience attempting to put a positive spin on a failed National Goals Report published on the same day.
"Every day, we hear more bad news about our schools. Maybe you saw today's headline, I don't know if you had a chance to look at it, about the release of the new National Goals Report. Get the camera to come in and take a look at this for a moment. In math, for instance, this national report card shows that, nationwide, five of six eighth graders don't know the math they need to move up to the ninth grade.
"In spite of troubling statistics like this one, I don't see this report, however, as just bad news, and I'll tell you why. This report tells us a lot about what you know and what you don't know. It gives us something to build on. It shows us our strengths and the weaknesses that we've go to correct. It sets forth a challenge to all of us: Work harder, learn more, revolutionize American education.
