The Day Glenn Beck Lost It For Good

Something tells me the foreign policy analysis in today’s Glenn Beck show is going to end up being viciously and deliciously mocked on The Daily Show:

FILED UNDER: US Politics, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. tom p says:

    I can not even listen to that idiot. II wonder that you can, Doug.

  2. Chad S says:

    Why do I think that Beck’s writers are the same manatees that write Family Guy?

  3. Linda says:

    Since when is Glenn Beck ever not mocked by the Daily Show?

  4. Nutty? That’s the usual.

    Boring? Dear God, yes! But maybe that’s because I know basic geography, unlike his audience.

  5. Dean says:

    Not sure I agree with your analysis. What Beck said is probably a stretch, but it is not implausible.

  6. Nightrider says:

    He sounds like a Bing commercial.

  7. anjin-san says:

    He’s not going to treat you like a moron, he is going to treat you like you are ignorant AND unstable. Hey, it’s an audience.

  8. michael reynolds says:

    It’s not really necessary to listen to Glen Beck, you can just read whatever “analysis” pops up in comments from Zels and Jay Tea.

  9. Marsh626 says:

    I don’t think he’s all that far off to be completely honest.

  10. anjin-san says:

    > I don’t think he’s all that far off to be completely honest.

    Of course not. The Weathermen changed the government in Turkey.

    This part is very important 626, pay close attention:

    Look out kid
    Don’t matter what you did
    Walk on your tiptoes
    Don’t try “No-Doz”
    Better stay away from those
    That carry around a fire hose

    Now examine the linkage between the recent riots in England and the riots in Egypt. When you penetrate this mystery, all will be revealed. Beware the Acorn storm troopers…

  11. Jay Tea says:

    Doug, you should assemble a list of all the times you’ve pronounced various and sundry conservatives politically dead. It would make fascinating reading, and would answer a question I’m too lazy to find out for myself: have you written more political obituaries for Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, or the Tea Party movement?

    J.

  12. bob says:

    A prophet is not without honor except in among his own people.

  13. Dan says:

    Doug, perhaps you could expound on what you mean by “lost it for good”?
    – Dan

  14. Jay (and Dan),

    I didn’t say that Glenn Beck was dead. Sadly, the kind of crap he peddles is apparently popular.

    However, after watching that video I think I shall from now on refer to him as Dr. Nutburger

  15. Jay Tea says:

    Sorry, I took your saying “lost it for good” as… well, permanent and irrevocable and hitting his zenith (or nadir — in either case, extreme) and anything else you might say about him in the future would be redundant.

    My bad.

    J.

  16. Jay Tea says:

    I’m up to 8:30 so far, and I haven’t really heard anything “out there.” A bit of showmanship and drama, but nothing fundamentally wrong. Either I haven’t gotten to the “good part,” or Doug’s having his daily dose of hysteria…

    J.

  17. Jay Tea says:

    OK, finished the video. Yes, Beck’s dramatic and a showman. But — BUT — nothing he said was fundamentally incorrect. It’s hardly an impossible scenario.

    J.

  18. @Jay:

    Except that he really isn’t saying anything of substance. He is just making wild assertions about “fires” here and “fires” there which he equates as identical events (which they are not) and he ascribes to them the most dire and dramatic significances as possible. He utterly ignores the specific politics of the countries in question and, after writing Sunni and Shiite on the board points out that these countries are all close together and then waves his hands and declares that a new Caliphate will be established.

    I suppose all of this is “hardly an impossible scenario” in the sense that if we live in a multiverse of infinite permutation then it must exist out there somewhere in some other dimension. In terms of actual political or historical analysis, it is truly utter hogwash. It is, however, clearly entertaining to many people, given that his ratings are good.

    This clip simply reinforced an impression I had of Beck for a year and a half ago: his style is that of 1970s/80s End Times Preacher. More here along with some telling examples of Jack Van Impe.

  19. john personna says:

    It’s been a log time since I’ve seen Beck. He seems to have become his own parody. Pomposity squared.

    I’m surprised anyone tunes in.

  20. john personna says:

    BTW Steven, I did see one report that north African protests were Greece inspired. FWIW.

  21. Axel Edgren says:

    There will always be a part of a population with an IQ more than one s.d. below the mean. That’s Beck’s audience – the low people of low minds and ways. Expendable people, or as they were known before: cannon fodder.

    “You are supposedly an attorney who somehow finds time between cases to vent vitriol on those who have done better in life than you.”

    Snooki probably has a higher income than I do. Do I want to change lives?

    Income and such figures are like “scores” in a game that only wage slaves and completely hopeless half-humans play.

    “Those who seem to have a better understanding of events than you are capable of.”

    Beck does not have a better understanding of events than any of the people who hate him. You don’t even *mean* the things you are saying.

  22. Jay Tea says:

    Shorter Axel: “you’re all a bunch of stupid doodyheads who should just shut up and let us, your betters, handle things. Just get back to your mindless jobs, you ignorant proles.”

    J.

  23. Axel Edgren says:

    I am getting through!