Barack Obama

[TracyCoxx]

Originally Posted by randolph

The flagrant rhetoric spewing out of the likes of Glenn Beck make a mockery of news reporting. Increasingly, the news media is a blend of news and silly verbal antics. It is hard enough to comprehend what is going on in the world without all this wild nonsense.

Glenn Beck doesn't do news. Although most of what he says seems to be accurate.

[randolph]

Originally Posted by TracyCoxx

Glenn Beck doesn't do news. Although most of what he says seems to be accurate.

From dickipedia

Personal life

Beck talks about his life all the time, so even the most casual listener or viewer knows that he grew up in the Seattle area with a serious case of attention deficit disorder, and his mother drowned herself when he was 13, and one of his brothers committed suicide, and another brother died of a heart attack, and he was a major pothead and an alcoholic who downed a gallon of Jack Daniel's a week, all of which cost him his first marriage.

After his divorce, Beck met his second wife, Tania. As a condition for marrying him, Tania said that she and Beck would have to jointly find a religion that suited both of them. They picked Mormonism, an odd choice considering that it's the kind of religion where you feel sorry for those poor kids who are born into it and can't imagine anyone joining it voluntarily
[edit]
Radio and TV

Beck did the traditional radio bounce-around, doing deejay duty in Washington, Corpus Christi, Baltimore, Houston, Phoenix and Hartford. His career was undistinguished until he subbed for a talk show host and "suddenly realized I've been in the wrong format." In January 2000, he landed on WFLA-AM in Tampa, where The Glenn Beck Program combined right-wing talk with a form of humor, one example of which is: "Hezbollaerobics...because no one fears a tubby terrorist!"

Okay, you're not laughing, but the show started out in 18th place and went to #1 not long before September 11, 2001.

Beck, like Rep. Gary Condit (D-CA), whose sex scandal story evaporated in the heat of the 9/11 flames, was a direct beneficiary of the planes flying into the buildings, since the result was that jingoistic and xenophobic talk show hosts were suddenly in higher demand. The Glenn Beck Program was nationally syndicated and quickly found a very large audience of people eager to believe that ignorant criminals were not running the country.

Newly empowered as a nationally syndicated right-wing radio dick just as White House dick George W. Bush was drumming up support for what would turn out to be the most humiliating, reputation-trashing fiasco in the nation's history, Beck organized pro-Iraq War "Rally for America" events in 18 cities for his Bush-buddy bosses at Clear Channel.

Beck used the forum of the people's airwaves to go after the Dixie Chicks, who'd had the effrontery to share with a London audience their shame at what was being done in America's name. He also felt compelled to weigh in on the Terri Schiavo case, leading the charge of rant radio against letting the poor woman die.

In May 2006, Beck's empire expanded into television when he began hosting the eponymous prime-time hour Glenn Beck on CNN Headline News. Not long after, he declared himself to be "sick of this whole global warming thing." Beck claims it takes generations before we can tell anything about climate change, so what we should do now is just go about our lives in a business-as-usual fashion and not worry so much about finding out later that we've destroyed the planet.

In November 2007, Beck signed a five-year deal with Premiere Radio Networks said to be worth $50 million.

In his 2007 Washington Post profile of Beck, David Segal wrote, "Listen to a few of Beck's shows and what strikes you most is the enormous ratio of words to substance - how Beck can monologue for minutes at a time and leave behind almost nothing except the impression of great vehemence."

In the spring of 2009, Beck will depart CNN for Fox News. The move will provide more money and even lower journalistic expectations making it a win-win for Beck, but a lose-lose for people who like information. Though, as some have noted, this will leave a gaping hole in CNN's "department of embarrassing conservatives we keep around to help us appear unbiased," insiders expect that other irritable commentators will continue to step up in this area.

Sounds like a real winner. Millions of people listen to this guy?

[TracyCoxx]

Originally Posted by randolph

Sounds like a real winner. Millions of people listen to this guy?

Yeah, he's done a great job exposing the gang of nut jobs that BO has for czars, and who the Apollo alliance is, who ACORN is, and how whackjobs from Weather Underground are still alive and well and influencing BO's policies and bills.

I do not agree with him about Global Warming though. As I may have said before, global warming is not a political issue. It's science. Politicians and political talk show hosts from either side should not be talking about it. They should shut up and let actual climatologists talk about it.

About him being a Mormon? The christian crap is something I have to grit my teeth over with these conservatives. As long as they don't say we should be conservatives because in the bible it says blah blah blah... And yes, I know some, including Bush do say that. I ignore that and pay attention to more down to earth reasons for the conservatism agenda.

[randolph]

Originally Posted by TracyCoxx

Glenn Beck doesn't do news. Although most of what he says seems to be accurate.

"Clearly, Glenn Beck is not your typical teleprompter-reading news host. Beck admitted to CBS anchor Katie Couric that he was not a journalist, yet he disseminates news, information and opinions to a large portion of the American populace. What is he, then, if not a journalist?

Beck seems to borrow heavily from a variety of trades, functioning as a quasi-comedian, actor, news host, journalist, radio disc jockey, entertainer, author and preacher, just to name a few. He can be as funny and entertaining as the Comedy Channel's satirical hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but he also possesses the gravity and moral certitude of a religious pastor.

More so than most journalists and news hosts, Glenn Beck knows how to effectively sell the news to his audience. Moreover, he uses the medium of television to make the process of news-gathering simultaneously entertaining and easy for his viewers. Of course, any semblance of objectivity goes out the window when a provocative and emotive character like Beck takes such a primetime stage.

If Beck is any indication of the future of television news, given his show's popularity and high ratings, we will most likely see an upswing in the amount of emotion and entertainment infused in news production at the expense of careful, objective, balanced and thoughtful analysis among journalistic sources.

But do most viewers want thoughtful analysis? Or do they want to be entertained?"

The trouble is most viewers now don't know the difference between news and entertainment.

[randolph]

"I do not agree with him about Global Warming though. As I may have said before, global warming is not a political issue. It's science. Politicians and political talk show hosts from either side should not be talking about it. They should shut up and let actual climatologists talk about it."

Unfortunately, some morning we are going to wake up to climate change and wonder why we didn't try to do something about it.
We are in a canoe drifting down a river and the noise of the waterfall is getting louder and louder.

[TracyCoxx]

Originally Posted by randolph

"Clearly, Glenn Beck is not your typical teleprompter-reading news host. Beck admitted to CBS anchor Katie Couric that he was not a journalist, yet he disseminates news, information and opinions to a large portion of the American populace. What is he, then, if not a journalist?

He's a political commentator.

Originally Posted by randolph

Beck seems to borrow heavily from a variety of trades, functioning as a quasi-comedian, actor, news host, journalist, radio disc jockey, entertainer, author and preacher, just to name a few. He can be as funny and entertaining as the Comedy Channel's satirical hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but he also possesses the gravity and moral certitude of a religious pastor.

A versatile political commentator.

Originally Posted by randolph

But do most viewers want thoughtful analysis? Or do they want to be entertained?"

I'll take some entertainment. When he goes off the deep end I laugh but I want to see more of his analysis. At times he presents a very thorough and scary picture of what's going on with the government. And I realize it takes time to gather this information, so I tolerate his occasional bouts of goofiness.

[randolph]

" By Kevin Drum | Tue October 27, 2009 12:03 PM PST

Andrew Sullivan thinks the "opt-out" public option is a piece of political genius. Imagine, he says, what happens next if it passes:

Well, there has to be a debate in every state in which Republicans, where they hold a majority or the governorship, will presumably decide to deny their own voters the option to get a cheaper health insurance plan. When others in other states can get such a plan, will there not be pressure on the GOP to help their own base? Won't Bill O'Reilly's gaffe - when he said what he believed rather than what Roger Ailes wants him to say - be salient? Won't many people - many Republican voters - actually ask: why can't I have what they're having?

....Imagine Republicans in state legislatures having to argue and posture against an affordable health insurance plan for the folks, as O'Reilly calls them, while evil liberals provide it elsewhere. Now, of course, if the public option is a disaster in some states, this argument could work in the long run. But in the short run? It's political nightmare for the right as it is currently constituted. In fact, I can see a public option becoming the equivalent of Medicare in the public psyche if it works as it should. Try running against Medicare.

I was mulling over the exact same scenario last night and couldn't quite make up my mind about how this would play out. In the end, though, I think Andrew's argument is pretty compelling. As Rich Lowry complained over at The Corner, "Does a state get to opt-out of the taxes too?" That's technically a moot point if the public option is truly self-funding, but in the reality of the political world it's powerful whether it makes sense or not. It's like Republican governors turning down stimulus money: it sounds good on the stump, but who's going to do it in the real world? It's crazy if you're paying for it anyway.

So yes, this could be a huge winner. If it passes, then for the next four years Republican state legislators all over the country will be teaming up with the universally loathed insurance industry to try and deny their citizens access to a program that, to most of them, sounds like a pretty good deal. I don't know if Harry Reid was deviously thinking exactly that thought when he decided on this, but I'll bet someone was. It's hard to think of something that could force the GOP to make itself even more unpopular than it already is, but this might be it."

It won't be the first time Republicans have shot themselves in the foot.

[TracyCoxx]

Originally Posted by randolph

Well, there has to be a debate in every state in which Republicans, where they hold a majority or the governorship, will presumably decide to deny their own voters the option to get a cheaper health insurance plan.

If the debate is about a cheaper health care system that provides at least the same coverage that the majority of the population receives now, then sure, there's no debate. But Kevin Drum forgot to mention the little detail that it will cost more for worse health care.

[The Conquistador]

I can see a tax hike if the "public option" healthcare goes through. How else will they appropriate people's money to pay for the crap?

[randolph]

Originally Posted by TracyCoxx

If the debate is about a cheaper health care system that provides at least the same coverage that the majority of the population receives now, then sure, there's no debate. But Kevin Drum forgot to mention the little detail that it will cost more for worse health care.

Cost more for whom? right now we pay through the nose for healthcare and one of the reasons is that hospitals have to provide healthcare for people who dont pay at emergency centers. The cost is applied to the payers. The system is broken and will get worse without revision.
The other aspect is that the conservative leadership doesn't give a shit about healthcare they are using the issue to try to weaken Obama's popularity by endless distortions and outright lies. Fuck the poor, fuck the underprivileged, only the people with good paying jobs deserve to have their healthcare paid by their employers.

[The Conquistador]

Originally Posted by randolph

Cost more for whom? right now we pay through the nose for healthcare and one of the reasons is that hospitals have to provide healthcare for people who dont pay at emergency centers. The cost is applied to the payers. The system is broken and will get worse without revision.
The other aspect is that the conservative leadership doesn't give a shit about healthcare they are using the issue to try to weaken Obama's popularity by endless distortions and outright lies. Fuck the poor, fuck the underprivileged, only the people with good paying jobs deserve to have their healthcare paid by their employers.

Ha ha ha! The Government is one giant clusterfuck. Look at the DMV, Postal Service, Medicare, Social Security and numerous other programs/Gov. run institutions and ask yourself if they will do any better with healthcare. And give a clear, concise reason as to why and not the usual "Cuz the Obamessiah sez so" reason.

Then ask yourself where in the heck will they get the money to pay for all of it.

Why do people from Canada and other countries come here to get treated if they have Gov. sponsored healthcare in their own homelands that is "accessible" and "affordable"?

What is to stop them from denying you coverage?

Where else will you go if you get denied?

Are you willing to give up your healthcare for a lower standard?




A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on Paul's support

Villainy wears many masks; but none so dangerous as the mask of virtue.

[randolph]

Originally Posted by TracyCoxx

He's a political commentator.


A versatile political commentator.

I'll take some entertainment. When he goes off the deep end I laugh but I want to see more of his analysis. At times he presents a very thorough and scary picture of what's going on with the government. And I realize it takes time to gather this information, so I tolerate his occasional bouts of goofiness.

Ahh yes, Beck, Limbaugh, Coulter, Palin, ect, ect. What ever happened to the likes of Eric Sevareid and Edward R. Murrow?