Fox's Glenn Beck Weeps, Shep Smith Mocks (VIDEO)

Here's what I think Shepard Smith, of Fox News, did last Friday. First he came on the air to broadly mock Glenn Beck for the weird show he was about to do. Then he finished work, probably checked his messages, went home, had a finger of quality bourbon, and unwound himself from the day, in the languid way of confident men. Hopefully, he wasn't forced to watch Glenn Beck's primetime melodrama festival, in which he advanced his Unified Field Theory of All Bad Things Are The Same (Obama is President! Pelosi is also important! Blagojevich! His hair! Weird people in military uniforms! Dollhouse isn't that good! Sales of the new U2 album are stagnant! Sexting!), and then forced himself to pretend to cry - wrack himself with creepy, fake tears - as he talked about "being the person we were on September 12."

Thing is, I like the idea of being those people, who crowded the streets and sang songs and clapped for firemen and broadly demonstrated that there was no reason to ever suspect we would fall to terrorists, because of our simple and unspoken bravery. And then the President basically said that we should all go shopping or take vacations, and then our patriotic warmth got warped into supporting a bunch of ancillary ambitions and fantastic attacks on our liberties in the name of "if you're not with us you're against us." And now, Beck wants to reclaim that moment for his own brand of charlatanism? No, no. I am with Shepard Smith, here.

"I feel like a televangelist," enthuses Beck. How dare you sully the good name of televangelists!

[WATCH, I GUESS.]

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Comments

[Mike Vardy]

I'm pretty sure I saw Glenn Beck at Summerstock once.

All the world's a stage...and all the world's staged.

Mike Vardy
www.effingthedog.com

[DonnyMac]

He'd be so easy to see through, if he weren't so full of crap.

[PDXTransplant]

People buy into him just like they did with Jim_Jones, Charlie_Manson, and David Koresh unfortunately. That's sad.

[Snowleopard]

he may be pulling in some ratings right now, stoking the fire or paranoia, but when all is said and done it's this guy that's going to crash and burn.

[rasputin999]

hERR bECK IS A ONE TRICK PONY, TALKING A LOT OF HORSESHIT!

[jer9848]

He been drinkin the crazy Koolaide lmao

[alimal123]

WHAT A D BAG!!!!!

[Davidicus]

My God! I am now a big fan of Shep Smith... he was dead-on with the criticism of Glenn Beck's patriotic make-believe 9/12 Movement crap. Beck is seriously mental, as are his followers, and Shep was playing it perfectly. "This is bigger than O'Reilly!" And it really shows how hopelessly smarmy (can't think of a better word... sycophantic, maybe?) Chris Wallace has become when it comes to Fox News. The son of the great Mike Wallace, who used to make people wet themselves when they saw him coming, is now a cheerleader for Glenn Beck (!?!?!). Go figure. Keep shaking the pom poms, Chris, but I'm totally with Shep Smith on this one... and no, he's (obviously) not jealous of Beck's popularity -- he's pointing out the emptiness of the whole thing. Now, THAT'S HONESTY.

[Yofer]

Stop the Howard Beale shtick!

Hasn't anyone actually seen that movie? It's about a man who has a nervous breakdown and the network is sick enough to put him on the air. Comparing yourself to Howard Beale is an admission that you are having a nervous breakdown and the network you work is sick enough to put you on the air.

Also, isn't he killed on the air due to failing ratings?

[YLS2007]

Gullibility amongst the uneducated conservatives masses of this country are the foundation upon which everything from naziism to the taliban was founded. These dangerous lunatics on Fox will soon be calling for insurrection and anarchy if left unregulated. What a country this has become...

[dcondie]

Interesting you should note that, YLS. Because I completely agree that gullibility amongst the uneducated would certainly make for an easier "absolute power" grab. The sweet message of, "I will take care of you" makes one an attractive leader for those uneducated enough to fall for it. It's the educated that realize that the same government (or any person/org­anization) that provides for you also will have the power to dictate the terms under which you will receive whatever it is the government deems you worthy to receive.

So it's doubly interesting that you would bemoan the road this country has taken, and the condition it's in. Because the condition of the country has deteriorated in a fairly close correlation to the deterioration of true conservative values. What a different country we would have now if the conservative values of family emphasis (ask educators what they need more than money now in educating our children), financial responsibility (personal, corporate AND governmental), and personal accountability were still emphasized as they were decades ago? If people actually faced and had to learn from the consequences of their actions, maybe they would think a bit more before they acted.

*sigh*

[Doc0976]

dcondie,

Your allegorical comments are not lost on anyone here. The problem with your statement is this: those that pledge to "take care" of the masses that have been downtrodden for the last eight years or so are doing their best the fix the mess left for them. Our country has been close-to-i­rreparably damaged by overspending, brutish foregn policy and questionable "morality" legislation. The only reason government has to get bigger is because there is a lot of clean-up work to be done and not enough hands to do it. That is why we need more government oversight and regulation.

True conservative values keep certain groups stratified in the lowest rungs of society. That is why the neo-conservatives and right wing sympathizers are rabble-rousing with their fear-mongering tirades - they realize that the power dynamic they held on to for so long has slipped through their fingers, as evidenced by this last election. Educators need better budgets to educate those in over-crowded classrooms and pay our most valuable possessions, our teachers, what they are due. Financial responsibility should trickle down from the corporate giants that were left unregulated. Personal accountability is something that is not lost on the American people - bad choices = bad consequences. That's common sense.

[AndThenOneDay]

There will be blood.

I'm not an alarmist by nature or disposition. But Beck, Santelli, Grassley and everyone else who can get his desperate face in front of a camera is playing a dangerous game.

We have large numbers of people in a financial crisis such as they have never seen and are wondering if it is much more than a 'crisis'.

We have large numbers of people who must wonder if/when they will ever have a viable political party again to represent them and their views.

We have large numbers of people who are grappling with useless bits of information about a complex financial collapse and being empowered to hate Wall St, the federal government, and the president.

So much for motive. That just leaves means and opportunity. Which just leaves opportunity. Which just leaves waiting for 'we interrupt this broadcast for a special message.'

I'll bet some of them are cynical enough to have already planned how they will cover their @ss in that event.

[Tommygun264]

So were you wearing your magic underwear when you spewed this drivel and pretended to cry for the lemmings, Glen?

Glen Beck isn't crazy - lowering himself to the level of the people he is looking to manipulate. He has goals and ambitions that reach far beyond increased ratings, including but even beyond politics. He is laying the foundation for a cult of personality among the weak-minded, racists and poorly educated people who are just plain frightened of change that will make the rabid devotion expressed at those racist Palin rallies look like a tea party. Beck's recent statement that violence such as the shooting spree in Alabama was "understandable", going so far as passively endorsing violence in response to fear of what he calls "political correctness" should be a warning sign. This man is preaching white power, hatred and oppression of progressive political movements, and the abolition of minority opinions (and by extension, minorities with opinions) by cloaking it in the guise of patriotism and the preservation of "traditional values". Glen Beck is attempting to cultivate a very, very dangerous movement and he needs to be called out and exposed for what he is before he gains momentum and he sparks violent action among his followers.

[bellabeach]

Well said, Tommygun264...let's hope no one pays attention to his drivel! He is a very dangerous man and not too well balanced!

[rasputin999]

Where's it all going to end? that's what I keep asking myself, where's it all going to end?

[dcondie]

I just watched this. I saw nothing racist. But all I saw was the clip attached to this story. Was there more in the full-length broadcast?

I've listened to his show maybe a dozen times and have never heard any "preaching of white power" or hatred. Can you give an example?

And I found interesting your usage of the phrase "progressive political movements". Do you mean the political movement that is taking place before our very eyes? The one that started about 18 months before Obama was elected and has now been kicked into hyperspeed? The one where people are told to just shut up and do what the government wants them to do and the gov't will then take care off everyone?

My experience is people who speak positively of "progressive" political movements fall into one of two groups: 1) They are among those that seek to pull a power grab over the people under the guise of "progress" or, 2) Those that are having the wool pulled over their eyes, are too dumb to realize it, but want to be seen as 'cool' and 'progressive' themselves.

I'll take the country where people are taught to think for themselves. Where people are responsible for their own well-being and experience the consequences of their actions. Where people are compassionate (what?? studies show republicans give to charity at a higher rate than dems? I thought liberals were the compassionate ones. Oh, they only give other people's money.)

[Doc0976]

"Where people are compassionate (what?? studies show republicans give to charity at a higher rate than dems? I thought liberals were the compassionate ones. Oh, they only give other people's money.)"

It's called a tax-deductible contribution. No one ever accused Republicans of being stingy, but they sure are good at those tax loopholes.

dcondie, your attempts here are noble but your arguments are weak. Here's what you might have missed during your hypnosis by the Glenn Beck Comedy Hour (or half-hour): mass media is an extremely powerful tool, one where subliminal and subconscious messaging is alive and well. It's not about being a conspiracy theorist, but it's pretty clear that Mr. Beck's Fear Chamber or Doom Bunker is meant to incite the kind of fear that inspired the land-owning, decent white in post-Emancipation America to stock up on guns and ammo. Yeah, he cannot preach white-power, hatred or anything akin to that without being smacked down by the FCC and his sponsors. He can, however, promulgate the kind of fear and loathing that makes an already unstable, out-of-work sycophant go out and get "all of those liberals" that mean to change what "his America" used to be.

Think about it for a moment...try very hard.

[CortM]

It's pretty amazing how these people always follow the same pattern: invoke memories of a past that never really existed (honestly, on September 12th, all I could do was eat ice cream and watch Food Network, not exactly a Strategy for Glory); question the humanity of some shadowy minority group, blaming them for our present misfortunes (the most decent, hard working and patriotic people I know are all illegal immigrants, but the Beckster would have you believe they all spend their time drinking stolen beer and assaulting white women); and wrap it all up in jingoistic histrionics (it's hard to believe that people take Weepy Glen seriously, but then it's hard to believe that 80 years ago people thought a stumpy little guy with a bad haircut and one testicle represented the flower of Aryan perfection, and look where that ended).

Beck's a pig. What he chooses to wear as a symbol of his religious beliefs is no indicator of his piggishness. Mormons do not consider their underclothing "magic." They consider it a reminder of their commitment to follow Christ. (We could talk til Doomsday about whether fake tears and jingoism on teevee constitute Christian behavior, but that's another question.) Lots of people who hate everything Glen Beck stands for wear that same clothing, and consider it sacred, deserving of the same respect afforded the saffron robes of the Buddhist monk, or the headwrap of the observant Sikh, or the yarmulke of the Orthodox Jew.

[MorpheusXNYC]

He BETTER wear sneakers. Spewing crap like that, he better be able to run...

[AndThenOneDay]

Eerily reminiscent of the Heaven's Gate cult. Quite appropriate.

[grailknight]

OMG! LMFAO! The shaved head! The wide eyes, and the the vapid spouting and Jimmy Swaggart croc trears.

[magneato]

Weren't these right wing,quasi populists all the rage back in the depression?

I can't help notice, Beck that you weren't doing a lot of boo hooing when our country really was being torn asunder.
We're just now dealing with the after effects.

[Clevella]

And winner of the award for Best Actor in a Drama of His Own Making goes to-

Glen Beck!!

Also winner of the Award for Worst Actor in a Drama of his own making goes to -Glen Beck!!

[Smirk]

Glenn Beck is just...creepy. It's easy to imagine him, if he career ever tanks, being the murderer in a murder-suicide.