Shut down Glenn Beck's program

[LBJDemocrat]

Shut down Glenn Beck. No other right-wing or left-wing talk show host approaches Beck in terms of his verbal violence and thinly veiled calls for armed revolt. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity propagate ideas that harm working people and damage the long-term viability of the US, but they're standard right-wing political media personalities. Glenn Beck is something else. Glenn Beck speaks in a deranged tone, verbally assaulting his guests with vitriol that would make Roland Freisler proud (see his interviews with Keith Ellison and Richard Blumenthal), and openly advocates sedition against the United States.

I might be tempted to consider Glenn Beck as just some entertaining shock jock with a political bent if it weren't that there are people out there who have lost their jobs, who collect rifles, and who are seething with aggression. In the early 1990s, the Rwandan genocide was encouraged, with great success, by Hutu radio hosts who advocated wiping out the Tutsi "cockroaches." Don't let it happen here.

[sixmile]

1. If you don't believe in free speech for those whom you despise

you don't believe in free speech.

Just watch out for stupid.

[LBJDemocrat]

3. Wrong

Free speech does not cover incitement to violence. You may argue that Beck disclaims, saying basically that he supports a revolt through the ballot box. I think that that's too easy. His tone and choice of words suggest otherwise. The man is a serpent and a threat to the democratic idea that those we elect are our leaders for the entire duration of their term unless they resign or are removed by Congress.

[sixmile]

5. Slippery slope

And I really don't like the guy as an entertainer or a commentator.

[cali]

8. oh for pity's sake.

that's just lame. sorry, you're acting like an enemy of free speech.

[WhiteTara]

17. hate speech is not free speech

it is illegal to incite violence.

[anigbrowl]

18. It is, but the legal bar for what constitutes 'incitement' is quite high

I share your revulsion for Beck, but the law deliberately makes it very difficult to abridge someone's freedom of speech. Proving incitement is extremely difficult. Consider, if you will, that many comments about Bush and Cheney here on DU in recent years could also be construed as some sort of incitation, depending on what standard you apply.

[WhiteTara]

19. never once did I read anyone suggesting

that we take guns and kill them. Glenn who acknowleges he is not a journalist, uses our public airways to make not so veiled threats.

[anigbrowl]

25. And never once have I heard Beck explicitly say that

Look, I'm not asking you to like the guy or his bullshit speeches. I'm saying that the way we feel about him doesn't necessarily pass the legal threshold required for his statements to be criminal.

[WhiteTara]

35. which is why he is still on air. n/t

[tabasco]

20. LOL! Free speech is a guarantee against government intrusion!

If a lot of people convince CNN to take his dumb ass off the air, it has nothing to do with "free speech."

Take a class or something.

[LBJDemocrat]

22. NO FUCKING SHIT! THANK YOU!

Wow. Finally someone said it.

[H2O Man]

31. Exactly.

Thank you.

[MrScorpio]

24. Beck is screaming "fire" in a crowded theater

He has NO protection of free speech rights to do such a thing

The other day, I heard him suggest that US forces execute prisoners in the field, rather than having to release Guantanamo detainees that need to be released because of lack of evidence to prosecute them.

Such an action would be a blatant violation of the rules of war and the rule of law. Beck advocated murder, plain and simple.

The man is deranged.

[HughMoran]

36. Beck promotes sedition

That's not free speech, that's the violent overthrowing of our government. It's illegal.

[Democracyinkind]

2. A democracy has nothing to fear of demagogues.

As long as it stands on a trong consensus that is.
But we shouldn't start shutting people up. Only if they cross that criminal line - which they are close to, I agree.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

13. What democracy? In the U.S.? you are kidding right?

Plutocracy maybe. Corporate fascist state definitely but democracy...nope.

[Democracyinkind]

14. Oh, I totally agree, that's what "strong consensus" meant to

...imply... My point was that this shouldn't constitute a problem... If this were a real kinda democracy...

Still...being oppressed in a fascistic way doesn't mean you have to resort to fascism.

[tabatha]

4. I think people should refuse to go on his show. Vote with their feet.

He is abusive.

I saw his Richard Blumenthal interview - and was appalled. It was not an interview. It was an excuse to be authoritarian, abusive and belittling.

[sixmile]

7. If Blumenthal wasn't man enough perhaps he's not the right man

Every side has spokespeople who are fully prepared to do verbal battle. Do you think Beck would stand a chance against Thom Hartman or Lawrence O'Donnell? Help to promote them to offer a more interesting debate.

[tabatha]

26. He did not allow Blumenthal a word in edgewise.

I have heard Thom Hartmann give up on people who talked over him and would not have a proper discussion.

It is also not a case of "man enough". That should not even be considered, if the individual concerned is given time to speak. If TV discussion shows about important topics become "man enough" competitions, then they are not worth anything.

Could you imagine Bill Moyers behaving like Glenn Beck. Nope, because Bill is sane.

[cali]

6. yeah, fuck that free speech thingy.

and once more: Beck is nothing new. See Father Coughlin for seething hate.

[LBJDemocrat]

11. He has the right to say it,

but not necessarily the right to use public airwaves for it. Even if he did, News Corp. should cancel his show for the sake social responsibility.

[Sheets of Easter]

38. cable TV is not the "public airwaves."

Personally, I think the guy is a joke, and sadly the attention drawn to his crocodile tears and "9/12 Project" only result in curious viewers tuning him in. Unless someone is a 20 Percenter, I can't see anyone with half a brain even having contempt for the guy.

[billyoc]

9. Shut him down, are you mad? I want him to be the face of the Republican party.

A sniveling crybaby.

[bridgit]

10. Build him an alter inside a Mega-Church Of The Blubbering False Prophet

Oh and thanks for the Hutu-Tutsi Conflict ref, I dropped it the other day and nobody here seemed to know what was going on :kick:

[Marr]

12. I think the way to shut this sort of thing down is to

draw the connections between Beck/Savage/Limbaugh commentary and these murder sprees. They are connected, IMHO. If the broader public shares that view, advertisers will dump these shows.

That in itself isn't enough to kill right-wing propagandists, of course. They're funded from the top down by people who are trying to spread ideology. Advertisers are nice, of course, but right-wing propagandists seem to get air time whether they're the most immediately profitable option or not.

We need to break up big media as well.

[BlueJazz]

15. I think the above posters forgot one thing. This is the Country that Elected ...

...the Village Idiot for it's highest office.

..And you don't think that those same people can be pushed to start killing Folks ????

[johnfunk]

16. Go after Glenn Beck's advertisers

It is working with Billo the Clown.

It will work with Weepy Glenn of Moroni.

And go buy David Neiwert's new book on hate radio and the fomentation of violent extremism, appropriately titled "The Eliminationists", at your local book store, or Powell's, or B&N, or Amazon.

[butterfly77]

21. No,let him and the rest of them keep on talking....

as the people who have lost their jobs keep heating up as they watch there bull they may get more than they bargained for. These people seem to forget that their are many people who have not just lost jobs in the past few months or last year and they have been watching Bush and Cheney,Beck and the rest as they have called them socialists,markists,facists as they watch them walk away with millions these people don't relate to real people.

Beck believes that his tea party people in certain parts of the country are the only ones catching hell, there are many who were there before them who they mocked and scorned and pretended as though they didn't exist,these peoples anger is just as great as theirs and they have been dealing with it longer but a lot of these people(tea party) have never known what it is to not have or to do without many who are homeless now were/are limburger,O'lielly,and Slannity fans,they have finally woken up to what we have been screaming about for years under Bush and friends and now they want to pretend that it has just begun under President Obama..

[Sherman A1]

23. I already have done so

I know how to change channels and I know how to operate the off switch on my TV & Radio.

[pilsner]

27. Mark Levine is pretty awful too n/t

[upi402]

28. 90% of talk radio is nuts like him. There's no balance and it's not the ratings

The propaganda media will replace liberal shows with better ratings for these wingnuts too often.

[Mari333]

29. and miss this great shit?...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrf14VN4boM

[RobertBrakeRDU]

30. shut him down!

Fox News in general is tough to watch, but I agree, can we get Beck off of national tv?

[UTUSN]

32. K&R #3 and LBJ was *my* president!1 n/t

[3woodiii]

33. funding

last time I checked he was not publicly funded.

[MadMaddie]

34. Nah...taking them off the air would incite the loons further

1. As mentioned go after the advertisers.

2. When Glen Beck talks about people getting their guns and taking actions, we are obligated as American Citizens to file a complaint with our local authorities and the FBI.

3. I believe that the suggestions by Beck, Limbaugh, Backman and others is very close to the line of inciting terroristic threats against the Administration and the country. And when and if an attempt is made to follow through on any of the highly suggested threats it will be time to hold the talking heads (who conveniently hide behind their microphones and the entertainment excuse)accountable for any violence that occurs.

[backscatter712]

37. Nah, leave him on the air, just so long as people like Colbert get to continue to rip him up.

I believe the best way to fight free speech is with better free speech.

For every Glenn Beck, I want a Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert there to rip him to pieces and make Beck the country's laughing stock!