Glenn Beck And The Rise of Fox News' Militia Media

Is there any doubt that Fox News is playing an increasingly erratic and dangerous game by embracing the type of paranoid insurrection rhetoric that people like Pittsburgh cop killer Richard Poplawski are now acting on? By stoking dark fears about the ominous ruins that await an Obama America, by ratcheting up irresponsible back-to-the-wall scenarios, Fox News has waded into a territory that no other national news organization has ever dared to exploit.

What Fox News is now programming on a daily (unhinged) basis is unprecedented in the history of American television, especially in the form of Beck's program. Night after night, week after week, Beck rails against the president while denouncing him or his actions, alternately, as Marxist, socialist, or fascist. He felt entirely comfortable pondering whether the federal government, under the auspices of FEMA, was building concentration camps to round up Americans in order to institute totalitarian rule. (It wasn't until this week that Beck was finally able to "debunk" the FEMA conspiracy theory.) And that's when Beck wasn't gaming out bloody scenarios for the coming civil war against Obama-led tyranny. In just a few shorts months, Beck raced to the head of Fox News' militia media movement.

Read the full Media Matters column here.

Comments

[Ohio9]

I havn't seen any evidence that Richard Poplawski ever watched Glenn Beck in his entire life. Why is everyone making such broad, non-evidence based assumptions about this?

[snesich]

Remember Francisco Martin Duran, the Colorado man who opened fire on the White House in 1994, in an attempt to assassinate President Clinton? This was done in October 1994, when the "anti-Clinton, anti-Democrat, anti-liberal" talk was at its peak, led by Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh and others.

Gingrich crisscrossed the country using words like "sick", "criminal", "traitor", "corrupt" and "anti-American" to describe Clinton and the Democrats. Limbaugh accused "the Clintons" of the most heinous crimes imaginable, including murder.

And then they took absolutely no responsibility for their words that inspired nuts like Duran. And then, several months later, came Oklahoma City.

There is a potent and explosive stew when you mix vicious, mendacious hate speech with the easy availability of guns. And frequently their mixed together as in "The man in the White House is coming to take your guns away!!! HATE HIM!!!"

What do we do? We denounce people like Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Gingrich, Bachman and all the rest as loudly as possible, as often as possible, and as vehemently as possible.

Let the companies that pay millions to these people, to spread their hate speech and lies, that we're aware of what they're doing, that we won't buy their products and we'll ask our friends and family not to buy them either.

We need to ask these advertisers if they want their brand to be associated with people who are stirring up the worse kind of hatred and implicitly condoning violence.

[darker]

FOX = EXTREME RIGHT-WING PROPAGANDA MACHINE -- FOMENTING for profit, of course!

[Wallysmom]

I read the entire article via the link and it is frightening. It is frightening that there is such moral sickness in this world and that anyone would advocate violence toward a sitting president to make a point. Hannity, O'Reilly and Beck target the uneducated and unthinking. The majority of those who believe their nonsense are not exactly well informed pillars of their community in the first place. The vast majority are looking for someone to blame for their ills, their lack of success, their unhappiness, their poverty. All three of these idiots need to go back to high school and read up about Marxism and Socialism as they are terribly misinformed. There is nothing Marxist or Socialist in any of Obama's policies.

[judgejay]

Wallysmom,
No one on any of these programs has ever threaten or advocated violence toward president Obama.

Is it wrong to question the proposed direction President Obama want to take America in? In my mind its our duty to and god given right to question things we disagree with. Just as those on the left questioned the war in Afganistan and the war in Iraq during the last administration. As a matter of fact there are many who now are disappointed with Pres.Obama for continuing these wars. Should they be muzzled? There are plenty of people out there that will commit violent acts but not because of a talk show host.

[nvr2late]

What proposed direction is that? To get healthcare for the uninsured? To find a way to end the wars? To give our veterans support? To mend our standing in the world? To want to find solutions for our environment? To care about the decaying infrastructure in our cities across the nation? I could go on and on. Fox News should be taken off the air for its treasonous behavior. It is outrageously anti-American. This isn't about questioning Obama's policies. This is brainwashing to the detriment of our country!

[Reighben Labilles]

I understand the Right to Free Speech and all, but to what extent is it to be applied if the people who use it are hell bent in using it to end the very concept of Free Speech and Freedom itself? Isn't Fox News committing a crime of some sort when they blatantly and constantly incite fear, rebellion, and violence within their target demographic?

[mad1nola]

If they didn't believe that their words are ineffective then why speak them. It would defy logic that you tell someone they should rise up and revolt if you don't think they would do it. What we have here is a question of intent and Beck et al certainly have intent to incite at least one if not many to follow their "advice".

[mad1nola]

Maybe we should boycott/picket the local Fox stations. They have their damned tea-bag parties we'll have our own protest around the country! Why should theirs be the only voices heard?

[veracity]

I know a restaurant owner who plays Fox noise on TV almost every hour that his store is open.
In the weeks leading up to election 2008, I wouldn't even go there, afraid that the Fox 'news' DEMAGOGUES would have their way, and we'd be stuck with "NUKE, NUKE, NUKE, NUKE NUKE IRAN" John McCain for President.

Well, turns out that back in the "good ol' days" (of that ARTIFICIALLY PUMPED-UP bull market & soaring real-estate prices of Oct. 2007) my friend had bought into the advertising about "LOW INTEREST RATES!" and got himself a home equity loan.

When business dropped off a cliff when the Recession truly hit (summer & fall of 2008), he got behind on his mortgage...
Finally scrapping together $10,000 to catch up on the back-payments, WACHOVIA bank (whom he had his accounts with for past 14 years) REFUSED his payments that week... and then, two weeks later, sent him a $4,000 FORECLOSURE legal bill, on TOP OF his back-payments and late-fees!

Thisis The FINANCIAL PLUNDERING going on across America, that PRESIDENT OBAMA is being INTENTIONALLY, CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT or IGNORANT of !!

ESPECIALLY from banks that are ONLY alive, because of TAXPAYER BAILOUT _hundreds_ of BILLIONS of dollars!

[backekuchen]

Are you saying that the restaurant owner's problem is the fault of President Obama?

My father-in-law and my dad both lived through the depression. Both did not trust banks very far. Their consistent advise to us was never, ever, do a home equity loan. As tempting as it was we never did.

The other bit of advice that they gave us was never, ever do a flexible rate mortgage. No matter how tempting it was we always opted for fixed rate. That way we knew where we were.

[Cye]

In 2005, my partner and I fixed our home loan for 3 years. When it came due for renewal in 2008, we took a gamble went for a variable (flexible) rate. The result, following the recent plunge in interests, has been an almost $700 reduction in our payments to the bank - per month.

Variable isn't always good, but it isn't always bad either.

[Mintcondition]

is that guy or girl 276 serious? Are you freakin' kidding me? Did that person just repeat the propoganda. Wow, backwoods and lovin' it. This is scary.

[patriotparty1]

If Fox is full of loons then explain why their ratings, and all of talk radios ratings are higher than any others? Glen came from no where and now has one of the highest rated shows even for the crapy time slot he has.
Lib radio, newspapers, CNN, ABC,NBC ets are losing in droves because people are tired of the hopy changy lip service, and slanted coverage of tingles up their legs.

[twiggy2]

their ratings are high because people love the drama fox offers - the hatred, doom and gloom.
fox news is an alternative to reality. it gives those listening a common enemy - obama
how sad people actually love to hate any form of integrity, values and common sense that does not come from them.
the blood of innocent lives is on fox news.

[eatmorchikn 2000]

The reason is that Faux News loons put on that channel and never change it 24/7.

Regular people go about thier business, we have things to do other than listen to talking heads rant at the Govt about how white ppl have it so tuff every hour of everyday.

Shows like Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones and even Oprah (before she changed) were top rated cause they put the worst of ppl and programming on thier shows, just because you have high ratings does not make for high content. All you have to do is look at the rating of all these so called "Reallity Shows".

The lowest common denominator seems to attract attention, kind of like car crashes, everybody has to stop and look!

[historymatters]

Give Fox and their television hosts enough rope, maybe they'll hang themselves. I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of reasonable people would regard this hysteria as anything worth paying attention to. Then again, as the old saying goes, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the average person.

[outofhere]

Beck, Hannity, etc. etc. are brave in their studios behind thier mics but they take no responsibility for the effect their hatred has on events. I say turn up the heat on them. Legitimate new agencies need to start looking into the likes of Townhall.com where the fringe of the fringe gather in hysteria at every move our elected president makes. Tyranny? Geez Hannity probably can't even spell the word.

[carpdd]

Is there a FCC and if so what exactly do they do other than look for the occassional booby shot or flying F note? Fox has finally put on the multi colored coat and with an in your face manner has committed itself to the propoganda machine that is FOX , we all thought it to be true but now we have a full fledged assault on the american people.

I implore all of you to contact your local representitive to bring this to the foreground where it belongs. I invite honest intelligent decent but this is far and away a power grab that will have this nation at each others throats!

[Savojah]

With all the loons on the right, it is Bill O that is the most rational of the right wing guys, and the most intellectual. And it being shown now, since Bill has actually called out Beck on some of the things he's doing and saying. That guy is just plane crazy.

[eatmorchikn 2000]

O'rielly only calling Beck out cause he's afraid of being knocked off the #1 Faux News perch!

[IhateNeoCons]

You want to know how to push back, I'll tell you: "Glenn Beck, nothing a baseball bat with a nail in it wouldn't fix." You cannot cry when your own criteria are used against you, whether it be in an argument or while walking down the street. You punch someone, don't be surprised they hit back. Maybe it isn't the high road, but frankly, what are they gonna say? boo hoo, that isn't fair? Show Beck and his ilk up for the gutless $hit-stains that they are.