Glenn Beck Tells Audiences What They Want to Hear
The few times I’ve watched the Glenn Beck Program, I thought it was entertaining, but I was turned off by some of the goofy antics and over-the-top paranoia. Recently, though, Glenn Beck’s ratings have been going through the roof, so his populist shtick must be appealing to a cross section of Americans.
Glenn Beck was credited with taking down Van Jones and ACORN and with driving up participation in the 9/12 march on DC. He is on the cover of this month’s Time magazine. Michael Calderon of Politico is even asking who most fears Glenn Beck – Barrack Obama or Rush Limbaugh? Meanwhile, Democrats are gearing up to make Beck the new evil face of the Republican Party, as they blame him for contributing to the coarsening of civic culture. To what do we attribute Glenn Beck’s growing influence on American politics?
If you ask the “progressives” at Talking Points Memo, Glenn Beck is cynically tapping into the ”Bubba effect,“ capitalizing on the racist and paranoid fantasies of right-wing birthers and militia types. Other progressives believe that Beck is a genuine demagogue who will be partly responsible if/when right-wing opposition to the progressive regime turns violent. Whether or not progressives believe that Beck is the real article, they mostly share the same underlying assumption: large segments of American society cannot think for themselves; a powerful demagogue can prod the masses around like sheep. Two ironies jump out: 1). pscychological projection – Does the same dynamic apply to Obama’s demagogeury, too, are only “bubbas” prone to manipulation? (for that matter, How many of those Bubbas voted for Obama?); 2). Progressives are as paranoid of Beck as he is of them.
Look, there is a small kernel of truth to the TPM criticism of Beck – people can indeed be swayed by demagogues, but the puppets-on-strings dynamic is grossly exegerrated. I would never equate entertainer Glenn Beck to a certifiable ”populist” scourge like Huey Long, but these two have shared at least one common characteristic: They tell/told their audiences/voters what they wanted to hear. We can rightly criticize Glenn Beck for saying irresponsible things, and we should absolutely condemn loathsome creatures like Huey Long for preying on the public trust, but ultimately every individual who chooses to listen to, or even be swayed by, a “demagogue” is responsible for his or her own actions.
One could argue, however, Glenn Beck is taking advantage of an unfortunate trend: the tendency of Americans to try to narrow down just what it is they are personally responsible for in a democratic society. Part of that process is the abdication of civic responsibility. As Allahpundit of Hot Air notes, many of Glenn Beck’s viewers want to hear that America’s problems are all someone else’s fault – that the viewer personally bears little to no responsibility for whatever ails the country:
Like William Jennings Bryan whipping up populist Democrats over moneyed interests or the John Birch Society brooding over fluoride, Beck mines the timeless theme of the corrupt Them thwarting a virtuous Us.
Beck helps his audience to point fingers at the powerful and well-connected for being principally responsible for the corruption of government and society. Nevermind that for the last 10 -15 years (and really much longer than that), politicians have not been rewarded for fiscal discipline. Instead, the voters have demanded more and more from government while expecting their elected officials to use smoke and mirrors to disguise the rising costs of entitlements and services. Meanwhile, the consmumer economy was also fueled by ever escalating debt.
To be fair, many of Beck’s viewers have consistently voted for polticians who promised to be fiscally responsible and voted against them when those officials failed to deliver on their promises. Many Beck viewers have run their own lives/households in a fiscally responsible manner - i.e., they have walked the walk. They have legitimate reasons to be angry at government lies and corruption and the irresponsibilities of their neighbors. Unfortunately, pointing the finger rarely changes other people’s minds. It is more therapeutic than effective, especially considering what they’re up against (“Obama will take care of my car payment”).
If I stopped the analysis right here, though, I would selling the American public (and Glenn Beck) short – just like the TPM progressives. There are emerging signs that Beck viewers and millions of other Americans are no longer content to simply point their fingers at others, as good as that might feel. There is a growing awareness among the general public that the entitlement mentality is bleeding the nation dry and that it is up to all of us to lead the country back to a culture and politics of personal responsibility.
“There is a growing awareness among the general public that the entitlement mentality is bleeding the nation dry and that it is up to all of us to lead the country back to a culture and politics of personal responsibility.
Thank you for this commentary. I have never watched Glenn Beck, but I do support many of these poulace views. If we as a society promote unending entitlements it will lead to our destruction. I have always worked hard, paid my taxes, paid my mortgage, taken care of my family, never declared bankruptcy, and never received a dime of entitlement dollars. I spend a good portion of my free time and money volunteering for non-profit groups, mostly in education. I’m tired of being told by the do-nothings that I should give even more to support them.
Actually, for me, Glenn and Rush and Sean are saying what I have been thinking for a long time. It is good to hear voices that see what is happening and make me know that I am not alone in my feelings.
Good for Joe Wilson too… I have never contributed to a candidate before, but I sent Joe some money! Keep up the good work Joe.
NOBAMA!
“One could argue, however, Glenn Beck is taking advantage of an unfortunate trend: the tendency of Americans to try to narrow down just what it is they are personally responsible for in a democratic society. Part of that process is the abdication of civic responsibility. As Allahpundit of Hot Air notes, many of Glenn Beck’s viewers want to hear that America’s problems are all someone else’s fault – that the viewer personally bears little to no responsibility for whatever ails the country”
Huh? Abdication? From my view, I see nothing but his *promoting* civil responsibility… call your senator, congressman…started the 9/12 project, etc..
“Beck helps his audience to point fingers at the powerful and well-connected for being principally responsible for the corruption of government and society. Never mind that for the last 10 -15 years (and really much longer than that), politicians have not been rewarded for fiscal discipline. Instead, the voters have demanded more and more from government while expecting their elected officials to use smoke and mirrors to disguise the rising costs of entitlements and services. Meanwhile, the consmumer economy was also fueled by ever escalating debt. “
He does point fingers… but the finger pointing has created a list of people and groups that all of a sudden are being renounced or taken out of their positions in government.. So even if it wasn’t Beck’s doing to have these things happen, he was still right on the money… and his clock has been right more than 2 times a day.. (He has said he doesn’t take the credit anyway, it is the people that have done this) However, I will say that he does get a little more emotional that I would like, but the substance of the questions he is asking hits home with me. I was also not on board with his “Obama is a racist” rant.. I have no evidence of that specifically, but as some progressives would like is to do, that doesn’t cancel out his being right on a lot of these groups and people that were let go in our Federal Government. Just because “for the last 10 -15 years (and really much longer than that), politicians have not been rewarded for fiscal discipline” doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be allowed to acknowledge their hypocrisy, right a wrong and start nipping problems in the bud.. That being said, I am one of the “played by the rules” viewers you speak of, Personally, I give those that weren’t on the right track to begin with, a pass, as they are finally “getting it”..
Also, I echo what Rob said, this is something, myself, my parents, and my granparents have been saying for years. He tapped into that HUGE market..so it is “what we want to hear” but, that voice (my voice) hasn’t been in the media as much as I would have liked. you would think having a few conservatives out there vs the army of progressives in the media, would be an easy battle for the ones in power now.. If they were a little more honest and up-front and made a case about their end goals not just the means to those ends…
Jay_C: I didn’t meant to suggest that Glenn Beck is promoting abdication of civic involvement and it’s good to hear that he does remind viewers that they – the citizens and voters – are ultimately in charge of who represents them, what sorts of policies we have, etc. Again, I haven’t seen that many episodes of the show. But, when I did watch it, Beck tended to depict things two-dimensionally: Us v. Them, corrupt Washington DC v. the good people, etc. In a different way, Levin’s recent book also seems two-dimensional: statists v. anti-statists, except that many people promote statist policies on certain things and anti-statist policies on other things – so who the statist is can change from one issue to the next, making it hard to figure out who the bad guy is. My point is that the voting public cannot separate itself from the state – we are the state.
It’s very tempting for those who believe in limited government, the importance of personal responsibility, etc., to say, “Hey, I’m not the one who’s voting those bums into office and I’ve always expected or received relatively little from the government.”
Two problems with that:
First, almost all of us – except for maybe devout libertarians – support some degree of nanny state government. Most conservatives and classical liberals would like to see it significantly reformed and reduced but not eliminated. Some of us have relied on nanny state programs before. Even though we realize that many of these programs are net negatives, that they diminish individual responsibility/initiative, that we would have been even better off without them, etc., nevertheless our lives are tied up with these systems. It’s just not ACCURATE to take an Us versus Them approach to the analysis.
Second, the Us v. Them talk is not effective. If we recognize the reality that large segments of American society are being lured by the cozy but unsustainable entitlement trap, how do we best reach enough of these people before the lot of ‘em drag us down with them? Two-dimensional finger-pointing won’t work.
And, look, I’ve done it myself. I skewer radical “progressives” every chance I get. But: 1). We’re not going to get “good value for our money” by trying to persuade left-wing radicals, who will only change course if they get turned off by progressivism itself; 2). When I do point fingers at progressives, I try to depict them in three-dimensions, which I think makes them look even worse, and I don’t question their good intentions.
Bottom line: even though we have the greatest framework of government ever created, ultimately the original parchments and law books cannot ensure our freedoms, liberties, sense of personal responsibility, civic values, etc. – those values must be upheld by the citizens. Our Founding Fathers understood that every generation would have to fight against inertia, allways striving to retain and/or reclaim our liberties. In our complex, modern world it has been necessary to have a larger, more active, more intrusive government, but I believe that too many of us eased up on the fitght – so to speak – and now we are veering well beyond the proper balance.
What I was struggling with: Does the Glenn Beck approach tend to further the cause or detract from it (on a net basis)? It was my impression from watching a few Beck shows – and maybe reading Allahpundit’s comments helped “talk me into it” – that Beck was big on pointing fingers and promoting a virtuous Us versus corrupt Them mentality, but perhaps that was unfair. If so, I can only hope that even more pundits and citizens are realizing the limited utility of two-dimensional finger-pointing.
Sorry, didn’t mean to sound scathing, sorry if it came across that way.. I was just surprised by the statement….
You said, “Does the Glenn Beck approach tend to further the cause or detract from it (on a net basis)? It was my impression from watching a few Beck shows – and maybe reading Allahpundit’s comments helped “talk me into it” – that Beck was big on pointing fingers and promoting a virtuous Us versus corrupt Them mentality, but perhaps that was unfair. If so, I can only hope that even more pundits and citizens are realizing the limited utility of two-dimensional finger-pointing.”
I think having the extreme libertarian views that Beck has, is a good thing. Reason being (and this may be Obama’s approach on the other end of the spectrum as well) Asking for way more (or less from government in his case) than you know you will ever get, means you will probably get some of what you want. Whereas, if you take the timid approach, don’t raise a stink, and just nibble at things you won’t get very far. I think on principle, I agree with Beck most of the time, but realistically, I know the country has good, honest liberals too.
The thing we seem to be missing here though is that Beck goes after corruption (regardless of party) It just so happens that the current administration’s party and the parties friends and acquaintances have had their hands caught in the cookie jar a few times…That is easy to point your finger at… and when the other media outlets ignore it, the effect is “magnetic” for Beck’s show. The “them” component you speak of, is those that are corrupt in Government, the “us” is ..well…us..We the People..
Glenn Beck’s ratings have been going through the roof, so his populist shtick must be appealing to a cross section of Americans.
I have a theory. Conservatives tend to be older. They tend to be a bit less willing to change. Hence they tend to not have them new fangled devices and puters and stuff.
As a result they want to get their news somewhere so they turn to FOX news.
I think its why their ratings are sky high compared to the rest of the networks and cables who cater more to moderates and left.
Those moderates and lefties are more progressive, have all those new fangled devices and computers and so they dont watch as much cable and MSM news as do conservatives.
No proof…just a sneaking suspicion.
“They tell/told their audiences/voters what they wanted to hear”
I’ve been watching Beck fairly regularly for a while, all the way back to the CNN Headline News days. Yeah his delivery can be annoying and he does go off on goofy tangents. But one of his mantras, so to speak, is “don’t just believe me, educate yourself, think for yourself.” So I’m having a hard time squaring your opinion with what he is says.
Maybe its just me, but I would love to get rid of the whole nanny part of the nanny state. Government is a necessary evil, and I’m amazed that some people put so much faith in it to make their life fair.
Glen Beck is just the most visible. More and more is coming to light on what hes been reporting on.
Dig This.
The director of the Apollo Alliance’s New York office is Jeff Jones. Jones was a co-founder of the Weather Underground terrorist group, along with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.
Van Jones, the controversial former “Green Jobs Czar” who recently resigned after public furor over his inflammatory racial comments and his past admission to being a communist, is also now with the New York State branch of the Apollo Alliance.
What is the Apollo Alliance? From there own site:
“The Apollo Alliance provides a message of optimism and hope, framed around rejuvenating our nation’s economy by creating the next generation of American industrial jobs and treating clean energy as an economic and security mandate to rebuild America.”
How nice. The Apollo Alliance apparently has the full faith and trust of Obama and his administration. The group helped write President Obama’s stimulus bill. They continue to have the full faith of the president and Van Jones was just moved from one Czar job with influence to another Organization that has powerful influence over the President and his policies.
Glenn Beck is Awesome!