Is Glenn Beck the new Joe McCarthy?

kev9100

Like McCarthy before him, Beck has accumulated an impressive amount of power by taking half-truths and manipulating them until he reaches the conclusions that him and his audience want. He makes ridiculous accusations that have little to no truth in them and in doing so, he simply makes the far-right more and more angry.

So, my question is, is Glenn Beck the new Joe McCarthy and if so, will he meet the same end as McCarthy?

steelcityblues

McCarthy actually had more integrity!

kev9100

steelcityblues wrote: »

McCarthy actually had more integrity!

I'm not sure about that. McCarthy was a disgusting man who enjoyed destroying peoples lives in the name of "anti-communism".

steelcityblues

Wasn't being wholly serious, but the propaganda that news anchors like Beck engage in is much more sophisticated compared to his day!

Denerick

Glenn Beck is a hack who makes a living by screaming vitriol and catchphrases across the TV, aimed at people who are functionally illiterate and refuse to read, listen, or think about anything anyone who is even mildly left of centre has ever had to say. He's a populist idiot who appeals to the very worst caricature of the American pysche. Orwell couldn't have written him, he's too bizarre.

McCarthy was a politican who adopted his witch hunt in order to faciliate a political career. The difference is that while Becks rhetoric only deepens the animosity of idiots towards the civilised community, Mc Carthy directly harmed real people in the persuit of his vanity.

kev9100

Denerick wrote: »

McCarthy directly harmed real people in the persuit of his vanity.

Beck could do real harm to people as well. He goes on telly almost everyday saying Obama and everyone in his administration are fascist socialists who want to destroy America and one day, one of the wackjobs who watches his show is going to do something terrible.

Denerick

kev9100 wrote: »

Beck could do real harm to people as well. He goes on telly almost everyday saying Obama and everyone in his administration are fascist socialists who want to destroy America and one day, one of the wackjobs who watches his show is
going to do something terrible.

To be personally honest the kind of idiot who gets sucked into that kind of rhetoric would probably do that anyway. Beck is only a part of that problem, he's not the cause of maniacs. He merely exploits maniacs for personal gain. American capitalism at its very best :rolleyes:

cheesehead

He is what he is: an entertainer - who's laughing all the way to the bank.

McCarthy was a democratically elected US Senator.

20Cent

He's a salesman for a gold company.
His shows are all to get people to buy gold from the company he works for.

Worst thing about him is he scares the daylights out of ignorant people.
Some may turn violent.

irishh_bob

20Cent wrote: »

He's a salesman for a gold company.
His shows are all to get people to buy gold from the company he works for.

Worst thing about him is he scares the daylights out of ignorant people.
Some may turn violent.

+1 , beck , o reilly , hannity are simply glove puppetts of murdoch , thier is little if any independant thought coming from fox news

Permabear

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Denerick

donegalfella wrote: »

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No-one is naive enough to suggest that communists and Soviet appartchiks were engaging in espionage and infiltration of the Federal government. What has become clear, and did become clear both during and after his witch hunt was the scale of that infiltration, (Which was rather modest by any standard) and the altogether authoritarian and unsavoury methods used to root out the said 'conspirators'.

Permabear

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Denerick

donegalfella wrote: »

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The odd federal official or lower grade military officer will not bring the Federal government down. Its not like they infiltrated the 'DEPARTMENT OF NUKES'

Can't most efforts to root out espionage and treason be described as "authoritarian" and "unsavory"?

Yes, but in this case it was a media circus dictated by the desire of McCarthy to further his own political career and carve out a populist niche area for himself. Not unalike Glenn Beck.

fontanalis

He's a sponge brained (whatevers left after being an alcholoic and drug addict) moron who converted to mormonism, the last bit says it all really.
The worse thing is what he does to public discourse, serious debate no longers sells so any pundit that wants to get noticed will have to out crazy him.

Amerika

If not him, hopefully someone else will up were Joe McCarthy left off. The Democratic Party tried to advance the Soviet cause from the mid 30’s thru the mid 40’s within the US government, and allowed Soviet spies to penetrate well into the depths of our government. McCarthy put a stop to it, and Liberals went crazy. Looks like the wiley Democrats are up to their old tricks IMO. We are again under attack and someone needs to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Joe.

(please read M. Stanton Evans Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies for answers to any questions)

Denerick

Amerika wrote: »

If not him, hopefully someone else will up were Joe McCarthy left off. The Democratic Party tried to advance the Soviet cause from the mid 30’s thru the mid 40’s within the US government, and allowed Soviet spies to penetrate well into the depths of our government. McCarthy put a stop to it, and Liberals went crazy. Looks like the wiley Democrats are up to their old tricks IMO. We are again under attack and someone needs to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Joe.

(please read M. Stanton Evans Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies for answers to any questions)

:pac:

You're priceless.

kev9100

Amerika wrote: »

If not him, hopefully someone else will up were Joe McCarthy left off. The Democratic Party tried to advance the Soviet cause from the mid 30’s thru the mid 40’s within the US government, and allowed Soviet spies to penetrate well into the depths of our government. McCarthy put a stop to it, and Liberals went crazy. Looks like the wiley Democrats are up to their old tricks IMO. We are again under attack and someone needs to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Joe.

Please provide some unbiased evidence for these claims or just stop. And by the way, I don't consider a book written by a right-wing, former editor of the National Review evidence.

Permabear

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kev9100

Amerika wrote: »

(please read M. Stanton Evans Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies for answers to any questions)

donegalfella wrote: »

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As far as I'm aware, Stanton Evans was a former editor of the National Review. Apologies if I'm wrong.

Amerika

kev9100 wrote: »

Please provide some unbiased evidence for these claims or just stop. And by the way, I don't consider a book written by a right-wing, former editor of the National Review evidence.

If you’re so closed minded, then why even ask? And how did you determine it unworthy... A simple google search perhaps? (and if so, maybe somewhat worse that what McCarthy was accused of.)

Foxtrol

The fact people take him seriously is quite worrying. On the plus side he does give political satire, like the Daily Show, a lot of ammunition.

Here's one of my favorites:

Mjollnir

Amerika wrote: »

If not him, hopefully someone else will up were Joe McCarthy left off. The Democratic Party tried to advance the Soviet cause from the mid 30’s thru the mid 40’s within the US government, and allowed Soviet spies to penetrate well into the depths of our government. McCarthy put a stop to it, and Liberals went crazy. Looks like the wiley Democrats are up to their old tricks IMO. We are again under attack and someone needs to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Joe.

(please read M. Stanton Evans Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies for answers to any questions)

We're not laughing near you, we're laughing at you.

Amerika

Mjollnir wrote: »

We're not laughing near you, we're laughing at you.

:pac:
I’m not giving up on you. I continue to hope that some day you will actually make a contribution to the discussion.

Denerick

Amerika wrote: »

:pac:
I’m not giving up on you. I continue to hope that some day you will actually make a contribution to the discussion.

I'm curious, how does a paranoid mind like yours develop in the first place? Is it really all that Fox Tv crap, or is there something more sinister going on?

Permabear

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youcrazyjesus!

Amerika wrote: »

If not him, hopefully someone else will up were Joe McCarthy left off. The Democratic Party tried to advance the Soviet cause from the mid 30’s thru the mid 40’s within the US government, and allowed Soviet spies to penetrate well into the depths of our government. McCarthy put a stop to it, and Liberals went crazy. Looks like the wiley Democrats are up to their old tricks IMO. We are again under attack and someone needs to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Joe.)

Yeah, the Democratic Party are Communist-Socialist-Muslim-Marxist-Atheist-Terrorists who want to destroy America. The idea that the Democratic Party was in league with the Soviet Union is actually quite comical. The greatest anti-Communist idealogues actually came from the Democratic Party.

kev9100

Amerika wrote: »

If you’re so closed minded, then why even ask? And how did you determine it unworthy... A simple google search perhaps? (and if so, maybe somewhat worse that what McCarthy was accused of.)

Yes, because doing a quick google search is the same thing as going on national tv, lying frequently and conducting a witch-hunt against anyone who has different views to yourself. Yep, they are both the exact same things.

Memnoch

Amerika wrote: »

If not him, hopefully someone else will up were Joe McCarthy left off. The Democratic Party tried to advance the Soviet cause from the mid 30’s thru the mid 40’s within the US government, and allowed Soviet spies to penetrate well into the depths of our government. McCarthy put a stop to it, and Liberals went crazy. Looks like the wiley Democrats are up to their old tricks IMO. We are again under attack and someone needs to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Joe.

(please read M. Stanton Evans Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies for answers to any questions)

Congratulations, you've just shredded what little credibility you might have had left on boards. Seriously, not even the most right wing poster is going to take anything you have to say seriously now. Kind of like Glenn Beck. Which is kind of poetic, almost.

Amerika

Memnoch wrote: »

Congratulations, you've just shredded what little credibility you might have had left on boards. Seriously, not even the most right wing poster is going to take anything you have to say seriously now. Kind of like Glenn Beck. Which is kind of poetic, almost.

Okay then, prove your credibility, and prove to me that Joe McCarthy was more often wrong than right in the matter.
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Jeopardy_-_Think_Music.html

Overheal

Wow people are getting riled up in here!

I'm not surprised Amerika is deflecting from Glen Beck all the way back to the 1930's but I don't think this is worth going straight for the jugular over.

I will say this though Amerika, I don't agree that we're under attack and I maintain personalities like Beck are doing more harm than good by provoking hysterics based on hyperboles and chalkboard ties to the KGB and SS. Flashing swastikas, and making conservatives thing subconsciously that they'll be hauled off to concentration camps, bla bla bla. At this point he's making O'Reilly look like a moderate, because of how Delusional and Grandiose he makes himself sound.

kev9100 wrote: »

Please provide some unbiased evidence for these claims or just stop. And by the way, I don't consider a book written by a right-wing, former editor of the National Review evidence.

In fairness we're letting a lot of opinions fly loose in this thread, I dont see the need to press him to seperate his opinions from fact which is fine by me, this whole thread is basically an opinion-fest, mine included.

Permabear

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kev9100

donegalfella wrote: »

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That sounds lovely, but after destroying the welfare state, what do you do with the people, including children, who relied on the welfare state to put food on the table and to provide healthcare? Do you just cut them lose?

With regards to military spending, I'm in complete agreement with you.

Amerika

Thanks for trying Overheal, but don’t hold you breath that the hypocrites here, who wail against intolerance, would be the slightest bit tolerant themselves of anyone who goes against so-called “McCarthyism” (or as Ann Coulter describes it “The Rosetta Stone of Liberal Lies”). I’m also not holding my breath that anyone comes up with legitimate arguments that show McCarthy being wrong in most of his assumptions. But I do expect the unmitigated hatred to continue ad nauseam towards McCarthy, and Beck, and Rush, and Sean, and Coulter and probably just about anyone who has a “(R)” behind their names.

And creeping Socialism is more worrisome today of this Marxist wannabe regime then is Communism... well so far anyway. Evidenced by the method of spending happening in response to the economic woes... union payoffs, company takeovers, pet projects in election sensitive areas, etc.

Permabear

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Overheal

Glenn Beck, of all my fellow americans, hardly seems like the 'tolerant' category. And Hannity, oh Hannity



If theres unmitigated hatred, its warranted. I particularly recall listening in on the way to Costco with my Dad (because he's a listener) in about feb 08, Rush was trying to backpedal on his statement that He wanted the Obama Presidency to fail. Verbatim, "I Never said I wanted him to fail..."

Oh, really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ETnzur7oVA

These pundits have often been caught contradicting themselves.

Amerika

Overheal wrote: »

Glenn Beck, of all my fellow americans, hardly seems like the 'tolerant' category. And Hannity, oh Hannity

Okay... well then neither is Barack Obama.

If theres unmitigated hatred, its warranted. I particularly recall listening in on the way to Costco with my Dad (because he's a listener) in about feb 08, Rush was trying to backpedal on his statement that He wanted the Obama Presidency to fail. Verbatim, "I Never said I wanted him to fail..."

Hmmm, so then by that logic it would be understandable and even “warranted” for Environmentalists to spew hatred toward President Obama for, let's say, breaking his campaign pledge to end the slaughter of whales? I see today it was reported that the Obama administration is leading an effort within the International Whaling Commission to lift a 24-year international ban on commercial whaling for Japan, Norway and Iceland.

kev9100

donegalfella wrote: »

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donegalfella wrote: »

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Well, are you saying you don't want to role back the Welfare State? Are you saying you don't want to slash social benefits?

Manach

Beck seems to be a clown prince pushing an agenda of the right the same way that does on the MSNBC are pushing their liberal agenda, albeit the former is a tad more humourous.

Overheal

Amerika wrote: »

Okay... well then neither is Barack Obama.

Hmmm, so then by that logic it would be understandable and even “warranted” for Environmentalists to spew hatred toward President Obama for, let's say, breaking his campaign pledge to end the slaughter of whales? I see today it was reported that the Obama administration is leading an effort within the International Whaling Commission to lift a 24-year international ban on commercial whaling for Japan, Norway and Iceland.

A link to A and B would be helpful.

Amerika

Overheal wrote: »

A link to A and B would be helpful.

You ask for it Kemosabe, you got it. (now tell me, does it matter or make difference, or will I just start to see visions of yabutts?)

Here you go.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/05/obama-backing-deal-lift-global-ban-commercial-whaling/


(And in case I hear, wellllll, that was only one occurrence:))
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/promise-broken/

Overheal

To A) I will say that Fox News appears to be reporting it as a failure or a broken promise. On the other hand in that same article the Administration by admission is working in a Big Picture effort to reduce the number of whales killed every year in the long run.

Nurse, I'll stop the bleeding but you Have to take off the bandage, so I can remove the bullet.

To Politicans break campaign promises in world-collapsing shocker. Because everybody knows One Politician that never broke Campaign Promises.

Amerika

Overheal wrote: »

To A) I will say that Fox News appears to be reporting it as a failure or a broken promise. On the other hand in that same article the Administration by admission is working in a Big Picture effort to reduce the number of whales killed every year in the long run.

Mannnnnnn, If you believe it will reduce the number of whales killed, do I ever have a bridge to sell you.



And there goes the yabutts. Doesn't matter if promises are broken, I thought by your argument it would be okay for hate to be "warranted" becasue of it.

Overheal

Amerika wrote: »

Mannnnnnn, If you believe it will reduce the number of whales killed, do I ever have a bridge to sell you.

You know some people actually thought dropping the A-Bomb would kill more people than it saved, too. The Bombing of Hiroshima ultimately caused 200,000 deaths. World War II caused 60 million.

Pragmatism is a bitch huh.

And there goes the yabutts. Doesn't matter if promises are broken, I thought by your argument it would be okay for hate to be "warranted" becasue of it.

What yabutts? The Yabutts where you turned a beck thread into an Obama thread with a yabutt? Ya.

Denerick

Amerika wrote: »

Thanks for trying Overheal, but don’t hold you breath that the hypocrites here, who wail against intolerance, would be the slightest bit tolerant themselves of anyone who goes against so-called “McCarthyism” (or as Ann Coulter describes it “The Rosetta Stone of Liberal Lies”). I’m also not holding my breath that anyone comes up with legitimate arguments that show McCarthy being wrong in most of his assumptions. But I do expect the unmitigated hatred to continue ad nauseam towards McCarthy, and Beck, and Rush, and Sean, and Coulter and probably just about anyone who has a “(R)” behind their names.

And creeping Socialism is more worrisome today of this Marxist wannabe regime then is Communism... well so far anyway. Evidenced by the method of spending happening in response to the economic woes... union payoffs, company takeovers, pet projects in election sensitive areas, etc.

You're cute. Damn FDR and the bloody New Ordeal!

20Cent

He's done it now.
Beck is after blaming his boss Alwaleed bin Talal for 911.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvP_zgE_wOM

Amerika

Denerick wrote: »

You're cute. Damn FDR and the bloody New Ordeal!

I still haven't seen a response from the resident Progressives to the question about McCarthy. Care to tackle it?

Denerick

Amerika wrote: »

I still haven't seen a response from the resident Progressives to the question about McCarthy. Care to tackle it?

Its conspiracy theory sensationalism. No doubt there was some espionage and infiltration, but nothing on the level McCarthy was chasing. Furthermore his method of chasing up people (A committee for 'un-american' activities for Gods sake - the land of liberty my ****ing arse) was authoritarian in the extreme and so blatantly an act of demagoguery that it takes only a man with eyes to see the blatant ambition and populism of this otherwise struggling politician. He wanted a political niche, and by God he got it, by bringing the integrity of the United States of America into disrepute in the process.

Amerika

Overheal wrote: »

You know some people actually thought dropping the A-Bomb would kill more people than it saved, too. The Bombing of Hiroshima ultimately caused 200,000 deaths. World War II caused 60 million.

Talk about "deflection"... yowzah!

Overheal

Dude, I dont even know who this McCarthy guy is I just came in here because I have growing suspicions that Beck has decorated the walls of his 'Frog with newspaper clippings a la Beautiful Mind.

Amerika

Denerick wrote: »

No doubt there was some espionage and infiltration, but nothing on the level McCarthy was chasing.

Got links?