Glenn Beck Attacks President's Daughter -- Days After Insisting That Families Of Public Figures Should Not Be Attacked (AUDIO) [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Glenn Beck has issued a statement, addressing the matter described below:

In discussing how President Obama uses children to shield himself from criticism, I broke my own rule about leaving kids out of political debates. The children of public figures should be left on the sidelines. It was a stupid mistake and I apologize--and as a dad I should have known better.

I think that was the right thing to do under the circumstances.

-----

So, call me crazy, but I'm beginning to think that Fox News infotainer Glenn Beck's principles lack some internal moral consistency.

See, a couple of days ago, Beck interviewed sometime-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and he took what appeared to be a principled stand on the matter of how people should treat the families of public figures. Speaking with Palin, Beck decried the tactic: "Leave my family, leave people's families alone...When it was Bill Clinton, you don't go after Chelsea Clinton. You don't talk about the Bush kids. Now, the minute they get into politics, that's a different story. You leave the families alone."

Now, Beck's stand here was rooted in the belief that Sarah Palin's new neighbor, journalist Joe McGinnis, moved in next door to her with the intention of being a danger to Palin's children. That is, as they say, some horsedung. Nevertheless, I can definitely get on board with the whole "leave the families alone" idea. Glenn Beck has had a long time to reflect upon that time he mocked a woman's miscarriage because her husband committed the terrible crime of being the host of a rival morning show in the same market as Beck. Maybe he felt bad about that! But whatever the reason, decrying the practice of criticizing the families of public figures is, at the root, very laudable.

Here's the thing, though: Beck was only able to abide by those principles for a few hours. On this morning's broadcast of his radio show, he chucked all of that out the window and went on an extended jag of mocking Malia Obama, who had the temerity to get herself caught up in the news cycle:

LISTEN:

Gah, here is some of the transcript of this thing:

BECK: (imitating Malia) Daddy? Daddy? Daddy, did you plug the hole yet? Daddy?

PAT GRAY (co-host): (imitating Obama) No I didn't, honey.

BECK: (imitating Malia) Daddy, I know you're better than [unintelligible]

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Mm-hmm, big country.

BECK: (imitating Malia) And I was wondering if you've plugged that hole yet.

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Honey, not yet.

BECK: (imitating Malia) Why not, daddy? But daddy--

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Not time yet, honey. Hasn't done enough damage.

BECK: (imitating Malia) Daddy?

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Not enough damage yet, honey.

BECK: (imitating Malia) Daddy?

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Yeah?

BECK: (imitating Malia) Why do you hate black people so much?

GRAY: (imitating Obama) I'm part white, honey.

BECK: (imitating Malia) What?

GRAY: (imitating Obama) What?

BECK: (imitating Malia) What'd you say?

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Excuse me?

BECK: (laughing) This is such a ridiculous -- this is such a ridiculous thing that his daughter-- (imitating Malia) Daddy?

GRAY: It's so stupid.

BECK: How old is his daughter? Like, thirteen?

GRAY: Well, one of them's, I think, thirteen, one's eleven, or something.

BECK: "Did you plug the hole yet, daddy?" Is that's their -- that's the level of their education, that they're coming to -- they're coming to daddy and saying 'Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?' " Plug the hole!

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Yes, I was doing some deep-sea diving yesterday, and--

BECK: (imitating Malia) Daddy?

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Yeah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I was doing--

BECK: (imitating Malia) Why--

GRAY: (imitating Obama) Yeah, honey, I'm--

BECK (imitating Malia) Why, why, why, why, do you still let the polar bears die? Daddy, why do you still let Sarah Palin destroy the environment? Why are -- Daddy, why don't you just put her in some sort of a camp?

And on and on it goes like that.

So, to revise the central tenets of Beck's "leave the families alone" credo, people should only criticize the children of public figures of people whom Glenn Beck doesn't like, including the ones who are stillborn.

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Comments

[NancyJeanMc]

12:33 PM on 07/09/2010

I was surprised Glenn did this, even if the president was stupid enough to open the door and invite people in. That said, Glenn did apologize the next day; guess I missed that clarificat­ion here.
Like him or not, apply the same standard to which you would hold the left. If "people say stupid things; let it go" only applies to those with whom you are in agreement, then your agenda is clear. You aren't angry over what he said, you are jubilant at what you perceive to be a "gotcha" moment. Says a lot.

[darma2u]

06:00 PM on 06/12/2010

pathetic human.

[Cherie Dillman]

07:13 PM on 06/09/2010

"Daddy, can you plug Becks polluting pie hole?"

[fatpak419]

09:56 PM on 06/03/2010

Glenn Beck is an infotainer who's irresponsi­ble rhetoric mirrors that of Rush Limbaugh. He is simply following a profitable formula. He has no integrity nor any advanced knowledge of politics. By portraying himself as an ordinary joe, he can make excuses for his lack of knowledge and these excuses feed into his image as a political outsider. His ideals evolve with his right-wing audience and he does not possess the integrity to disagree with them on any topic. He's described himself as "becoming more Libertaria­n every day." This is a blatant attempt to anoint himself as the voice of this growing wave of discontent among uber-conse­rvatives and pocket their money as viewers, listeners and book buyers. There is no soul there, just an opportunis­tic blowhard willing to take it further than Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter have. Expect more disgusting comments and half-heart­ed, wink-and-a­-nod apologies in the future.

[unliberal]

09:30 PM on 06/03/2010

Are you people serious??!­?! Really?!?! Does no one remember Sarah Palin's daughter? The Bush daughters?­? Oh how the liberals, your ilk, can make fun of them, they're fair game, but let someone say something about the exalted one's family and what?!?! OMG it is SOOOO ridiculous­!!!!! Why is O'bama so far above reporoach compared to everyone else? Oh wait... he's black and if you disagree with him you're a racist!!!

You people are the racists.. you need to wake up and look beyond the color of a persons skin.. Especially when that person is charged with running our country!!

[chelledc]

10:57 PM on 06/03/2010

Are you serious? People made fun of Chelsea for being unattracti­ve. The girl did pretty much nothing wrong, except be in the limelight during her awkward phase, but the Bush kids and Palin's kids did the exact opposite of the things their parents preached. Don't get me wrong, I don't knock them for making mistakes but let's not pretend that if Obama tried running with a knocked up teen it would have been over for him.

Are you really missing that Beck said one thing and then turned right around and did another? It's not the most shocking thing he's said, but it's obviously hypocritic­al. If the Obama kids turn out obese or drop out of college to work as a fluffer, then we can talk about how people are putting the guy on a pedestal.

[Nicole L]

05:34 PM on 06/07/2010

Apples and Oranges. In the Bush twins' case, they broke the law (like it or not, underage drinking is illegal). Bristol Palin broke the rules of her home (her Mom told her to abstain, she chose not to). In both instances, they got into trouble/in­famy because of choices they made, not because of who they are or what they look like (google John McCain and Chelsea Clinton).

As a parent, I find his behavior disgusting and cruel. In that moment, he became a bully. He used his fame and audience to pick on a child who simply asked her father a question. In his quest to use an anecdote as political ammuniton, he ended up hurting someone weaker and more vulnerable than him (the textbook definition of a bully). Notice I didn't mention race because that's not even an issue. Glenn Beck decided to be a hypocritic­al jerk, that half-***ed apology he posted notwithsta­nding. If he really wants to prove how "sorry" he is, I would suggest a handwritte­n note to Malia and a promise to practice what he preaches (because I have feeling if someone had done this to his children, he's be mad as hell, and rightfully so).

Glenn Beck has every right to disagree with the President. He has every right to dislike the President. He had NO right to take that out a an innocent 11 year old girl. Shame on him.

[ThankfullyCanadian]

08:09 PM on 06/16/2010

Exactly! It's the bully tone that makes it so disturbing­. Obviously a lot of people have criticized the children of politician­s in the past, even going as far as to satirize and make jokes about them. It's what late-night monologues are made of. But here's the moral difference­: When Letterman throws out zingers about Bristol Palin participat­ing in an orgy at a baseball game, everyone gets that it’s a joke even if it’s distastefu­l (as Sarah might say, it’s satire). But to see an adult gleefully mocking a child’s intelligen­ce in such a hateful and juvenile way… it’s a little horrific.

[takeyourballandgohome]

11:41 AM on 06/03/2010

A drunken man's words...yo­u go Beck....as Oprah says, "when someone shows you who they are, believe them"!!! Well, she quotes Maya A.

[jeremyfive]

11:24 AM on 06/03/2010

Glenn Beck is gonna self-mutil­ate on air any day now. . .

[holiday2010]

09:01 AM on 06/03/2010

To be honest, this kind of behaviour isn't really suprizing coming from Beck.

[BolaMuyis]

09:54 AM on 06/03/2010

If this is true then I fear for us all. It's one thing to be shocking but to be so desensitiz­ed that this becomes normal is just scary. I think there should be an uproar about this, but even that seems to mean nothing these days. These guys can say anything anyhow to anyone including a sitting President? No respect I tell you for the man, his family or his office, truly a shame.

[mltmama]

11:39 AM on 06/03/2010

We're letting him hang himself.

[MissVirginiaVoter]

10:26 PM on 06/02/2010

F9999ck him

[fallinup]

09:31 PM on 06/02/2010

I'm shocked and appalled. Glenn Beck has children.

[LeftLeanWing]

12:45 PM on 06/03/2010

Actual photo of 'The Baby'
http://1.b­p.blogspot­.com/_BYPK­upkmcO4/SY­_ZmSfmSeI/­AAAAAAAAAM­A/ZOY1HRPT­Icc/s320/3­00px-BabyS­inclair.jp­g

[nellpost]

08:29 PM on 06/02/2010

beck is soooo easy to hate!

[WorkingRN]

07:47 AM on 06/04/2010

Only because he brings reality out in the open?? Most of the time when we dislike someone, it's because we see something of ourselves in them.

[Tambra Galid]

01:25 AM on 06/05/2010

No, Glenn Beck is detestable because he attacks people on their weak spots. I know that I have never called someone up and made fun of their miscarriag­e. I haven't attacked an eleven-yea­r-old child, and I certainly don't make fun of fat people. Is this the 'bringing it out in the open" to which you are referring? Or perhaps its the complete falsehood/­propaganda he insists on spewing.

No, darling, I fear we hate Glenn Beck because he is a hate-fille­d person with no redeeming qualities.

[Cherie Dillman]

07:23 PM on 06/09/2010

beck DOES NOT represent MY Beliefs and morals, the only thing we have in common is the color of our skin. He's a disgrace to the Caucasian race, of which President Obama is a part of.

[hotrod51]

08:25 PM on 06/02/2010

Over 14,000 hits about a guy who is apologizin­g.

[risingsun4995]

05:52 PM on 06/02/2010

All Glenn Beck does is make populist appeals to the people while legitimati­ng the power of the rich. Did black, mexican and working class people cause are banks to lose a trillion dollars or our oil and mining companies to have accidents. Failed policies and no regulation has caused our problems. Corporate power and the refusal of our politician­s to get off of the pay for play feeding trough is our problem.

[Be the Light]

07:34 PM on 06/02/2010

Bravo!

[carlosgriffin]

05:52 PM on 06/02/2010

Glenn Beck has more guts and morality in his pinky fingers than most progressiv­es have in their entire bodies.

History always provides with a person to lead people through troubled times, and it looks as if Beck has become a reluctant leader. I support Beck and appreciate the history lessons he teaches on his daily TV show. It's refreshing having someone actually telling the truth!

[boomcat44]

06:23 PM on 06/02/2010

For the love of God, man!
SNAP OUT OF IT!!!!!
You're following a RODEO CLOWN!!!
A CLOWN!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!
I Guess that old saying is true......­....
There's one born everyday.

[sydneymoon]

06:15 AM on 06/03/2010

Tears of laughter welling up......

[formerroadie]

06:25 PM on 06/02/2010

Wow. It's amazing that people can be so s.tupid.

[jerryatthebeach]

05:13 PM on 06/02/2010

Are we ever going to have a gay Glenn Beck scandal?? Sounds delicious.­..

[beasteben]

05:37 PM on 06/02/2010

That would require a brave gay dude to hook up with the Beckster. I think the only gay scandal he can have is with himself, and there's no shame in that!

[hotrod51]

08:17 PM on 06/02/2010

Wanting to plug the hole, daddy?