An intelligent Glenn Beck thread

*Gasp!* Is it possible? We'll see.

Before I begin, I want to make very clear the purpose of this thread, so maybe we can avoid posts that have nothing to do with the purpose. The purpose is to figure out exactly what Glenn Beck is, what his personal motivations are and what part he plays in the grand scheme of things. I work under the conspiratorial assumption that there is a shadow oligarchy of elites (which I shall call TPTB) that have been running the show at least since JFK, but individual politicians may be unaware of their own lack of power. For several months I've been trying to nail down Glenn Beck, but he eludes me.

Anybody who watches the TV or radio show is welcome to respond. Comments from the peanut gallery should be kept out of this thread; you are welcome to post in any of the multitude of Beck-related threads already on ATS. If the only thing you know of the guy you've gotten secondhand or from short clips and soundbites, this means you.

As for me, I do not watch the radio show, only the TV show, and I watch it in several-month intervals. I watch the show with mind open but critical faculties on high alert. Though I have learned much from his show, his personality and his politics grate on me and I can only stand him for so long before I have to take a break. This week I just started a break; the collectivistic rally stuff was just getting to be too much (I do give him props for emphasizing personal spirituality, in a sense making it an "individualistic rally" if there even is such a thing, but the effect was rather awkward since it's all kind of an oxymoron).

So here goes. I could say a lot more than I will probably say here, but my space is limited, so I'll try to abridge it if I can.

I think Glenn Beck could be one of two things. One one hand, he may be a genuinely well-meaning guy who wishes to wake people up to truths that are not discussed in other outlets in the MSM, but is nevertheless at the mercy of forces outside his control including his masters at Fox News. If this is the case, he is at his best when he's exposing these things and directly quoting politicians making them eat their words, and at his worst when he devotes entire episodes to patting our imperialistic wars on the back. Even at his best he walks a thin tightrope because there are people above him watching him, and he arouses the intense, vitriolic hatred of his opponents precisely because they were not expecting to see the truth about them told so frankly. His career will probably end in assassination, and many people will cheer overtly or silently when this happens.

On the other hand, he may be a genuine shill for TPTB, with everything he says and does calculated to a purpose. His disclosure of facts not discussed elsewhere is to be understood as a subterfuge intended to gather together all who distrust government under a common banner, to get them listening to him unquestioningly, and thus get those uppity rascals finally under the control of TPTB. The intense unprecedented hatred of him by the left can be seen as part of the grand theater. He may still be under threat of assassination, for purely theatrical reasons. I hold this view to be less likely than the one above, from my own impressions while watching him. If this is indeed the case then Beck is truly an expert sociopath.

There is of course also the view of those who actually buy into his cult of personality unquestioningly, that he's basically a saint and God speaks to him in his ear. No matter whether there are actually large numbers of people who see him this way, or whether this is mostly just caricature from his opponents, I will not elaborate more on this "saint" possibility because I consider it ludicrous.


With these two possibilities in mind, I want to go over some of the good and the bad points of Beck, and see how they may fit into each of the two paradigms above.


The Good:

-He infrequently but regularly mentions the New World Order, Illuminati, Bilderbergers, etc. The theories are always mentioned and ridiculed in the same breath. He'll say something like "You don't need to believe in shadowy Bilderberger conspiracies to see something's wrong" or yada yada yada. On the surface the ridicule would seem to be bad, until you realize most of his listeners have never even heard these terms before and have no idea what he's talking about when he says them. He is the only person anywhere on the MSM, including on Fox, who even mentions these terms. Any inquisitive watcher would then be tempted to turn to Google to look these things up, where they may finally become informed.

From the standpoint of Beck being sincere, I suspect he himself believes some of this stuff but is unable to talk about it because of his obligations to Fox. Instead, he mentions it just to get people Googling, while throwing in some ridicule to appease his masters. Again, he's walking the tightrope here.

From the standpoint of Beck being pure shill, he may be trying to pull some of the more aware people into his ambit. If Beck is aware of these conspiracy theories, he may be seen as someone who is on their side.


-He has gone in great detail exposing the U.S. financial situation, crunching the numbers to show how with debt and unfunded liabilities we are so deep in the hole there is absolutely no way out except to destroy the currency. He usually follows this with some tripe about how the way out is "restoring the nation's honor" or "returning to God" or some such, but anyone who can do math can read between the lines: he is predicting economic doom in America's future, the same doom predicted by many economists.

If he is sincere, he's again trying to wake people up. He must add the stuff about the "way out" probably in part because his masters wouldn't stand for him saying the ship is sinking without throwing in a message of hope (there's that tightrope again), and probably also because he himself, being religious, believes that somehow a miracle can make the numbers magically go away. But in either case, he wants people to be prepared.

(continued...)



[edit on 1-9-2010 by NewlyAwakened]

(...continued)

If he is a shill, then he's probably just trying to make people angry (as this sort of news is bound to do) in order to stir up domestic strife as part of an overarching divide-and-conquer strategy. He's already done a great job of showing his ability to gather up hordes of TPTB's enemies all in one place. The paranoid part of me was actually half-afraid the recent rally was going to be a trap, and that the clampdown would be set in motion that day.


-His thorough exposure of the sheer number of people with quotable radical Marxist history in or connected to Barack Obama's administration. He's done a great job demonstrating that many of these people (Van Jones, Cass Sunstein, etc.) are not just plain old liberals with sympathy for socialistic policies but have a history of revolutionary radicalism of Marxist flavor. I won't go into my personal opinions on Marxist theory but considering that I have listed the exposure of these people under "The Good" it should give you an idea of where I stand on it.

Again, he's either trying to wake up his sleeping viewers or practicing divide-and-conquer. The more interesting question here is the part Marxist revolutionaries play in the shadow government. In the "monolithic" view (TPTB are unified), when SHTF economically, TPTB may ultimately use these radicals to establish their more overt dictatorship. In the more traditional conspiratorial view where TPTB are offshoots and descendants of the military-industrial complex that assumed power when they offed JFK, these radicals of Obama's, from their history, actually would be avowed enemies of these PTB. One wonders if TPTB just didn't expect this, and now there are silent chess moves going on in high places between these two ambitious groups.


The Bad:

I won't go into too much detail here because the non-Fox elements of the MSM have already made everybody quite familiar with this. Basically I'm not really a fan of Beck's politics. Like I said, he's at his best when he's exposing little-known truths. But when he's warmongering, or supporting Keynesian economic policies (though to his credit he did have historian and Austrian School economist Tom Woods on one episode talking about Hayek's The Road to Serfdom), or subtly trying to push Mormonism by pushing a discredited hoax about Hebrew tablets found in North America, or any of the other loony-bin stuff he does, he's not exactly winning any intelligent fans.


There's so much more I could go into with this guy, but I'll hold off for now. Whatever you think of him, he's one of the more unique figures in broadcasting history, even just because of the sheer intensity of the hate directed toward him. I've never seen anything like it.

Anyone have anything to add?



[edit on 1-9-2010 by NewlyAwakened]

Plain and simple: I think he is an opportunist.

He is a smart man.

He has half the country in the palm of his had, drooling to hear what he has to say next.

He knows what they want to hear, so he gives it to them.

Does he want to change things? Probably.

Has he lost that goal? I think so.

He wants to make money. That's what anyone on TV wants to do.

I watch his show sporadically. I can't stand it for more then a day or two at a time because, honestly, I feel he is dumbing it down, and I do not like being spoken to in that manner. I am an adult, I like to be spoken to as one.

Also, I caught the first part of his show yesterday, and all he talked about was how well behaved his followers and him were. That was very annoying. He spent 20 minutes pointing out what "they" said would happen, and what did happen.

But that's why I personally don't like him.

Like I said, I think he is an opportunist. If it would work make him more money being Obama's hand puppet, I think he would.

I told a friend yesterday, he was on CNN at first. Then when it was apparent a Democrat would be in the White House, he jumped ship to FOX. If he was even halfway paying attention to the world, he knew people were thirsty for knowledge and would start watching news networks again. He takes his stand mostly for the money. I truly think that.

reply to post by iamsupermanv2

Originally posted by iamsupermanv2
Does he want to change things? Probably.

Has he lost that goal? I think so.

I think you could be right. He's let the money and the publicity get to his head.

Perhaps this "fall" is why he alternately strikes me as sincere sometimes and gives me the heebie-jeebies other times.


I agree that it's been getting dumbed-down. That's why I've taken a break. I couldn't stand all the self-congratulatory stuff; it was getting to be too much

I'd love it if he goes back to the gruntwork of exposing elites who hate exposure. I used to love his show back when the whole hour was spent nailing people.



[edit on 1-9-2010 by NewlyAwakened]

Beck is a a meme generator to ferment chaotic emotive response, which coincidentally is the main ingredient for social alchemy.

Oh God... Should I really reply? I will toughen up my skin and give it a go. I maybe the only person on ATS who has actually met Glenn Beck. I don't mention this to drop names but I believe that you can not judge a person if you have not looked them in the eyes and asked them the tough questions. I sat down with Mr. Beck in a home, without cameras, with no other agenda than to sit and talk. With a million questions to ask I decided to stay within two categories, religion and HIS take on politics. What I can away with about him after this conversation is this...

1) He is a very spiritual person. If you have read anything about him you know that he is a Mormon. Often his opposition uses this as a way to point to some ultra evangelical super religious conspiracy. I found that his religion is a source for strength and gives him a foundation to deal with past and future moral dilemmas. He is very reasonable when it comes to other peoples view points of religion seeing only the importance of knowing that there is something greater than yourself. No, he did not try to convert me.

2) His views on politics are his alone and as he draws his conclusions Mr. Beck realizes that there are many differing opinions. I felt that he is genuinely scared for the future. Though there maybe alot of theatrics in his programs the basis of his political arguments are based upon what he feels will keep his family and children safe and allow them to prosper. These ideals are pretty common, Glenn just happens to have a national audience to listen to him.

3) OK, I KNOW THAT I WILL BE SLAUGHTERED FOR THIS...
He is very smart. There was not a book that he hadn't read and a reference that he could not make to support his viewpoint. It was really surprising to me that he read and research all sides of an argument. To say the least, I was very impressed with how educated he was on the left and the right.

Take my comments for what they are. I don't think that there is any huge Glenn Beck conspiracy. He is just a man who talks about what he believes in and is sincere about trying to make the country live up to it's ideals.

The primary overriding issue should be that this man is on prime time TV.

reply to post by axiomuser

Hah, hopefully my admonitions at the start of the OP will keep the hate level at no more than a dull throb.

It's good to hear a viewpoint from someone who's met the guy. I too doubt my more conspiratorial interpretation of his actions, but I also have a paranoid streak and am always afraid of "traps" when I get too comfortable with something.

However, in the same vein of iamsupermanv2's post, I do not believe for a minute that he, being human, is immune to the fame and the money. If he's smart about it he'll keep his personal expenses to a minimum and live middle-class style, and just save the rest. Otherwise, once you create a lifestyle, all the good intentions in the world won't prevent you from feeling the pressure to do anything in your power to maintain it (read: keep his job) which can easily compromise the integrity of any mortal.

Thanks for sharing.

reply to post by NewlyAwakened

but I also have a paranoid streak and am always afraid of "traps" when I get too comfortable with something...

Me too. I sat down thinking that there was no way that I couldn't see through the rhetoric. Truth is... I was convinced atleast on a personal level of his genuine concern. Yeah, he did drive up in a really nice Mercedes but I felt his personality matched more with the jeans and T Shirt that he wore than a three piece. If the worst that people can say is that he is a "showman" than that means to me that he is just good at his job. All of the talk about him on ATS backs that up, the good and the bad.

[edit on 9/1/2010 by axiomuser]

Desensitization- He is allowed to mention these terms and things like this because it desensitizes people slowly.
Discrediting Theories- He says he doesn't believe in things like this, so his audience won't (fans I mean); and no one else takes him seriously so him mentioning them actually brings a negative emotional association (IMO).
Sensationalist- He freaks out all the time to keep the people watching. He distorts issues so small ones seem big and big ones are sometimes ignored or barely talked about.
Psychotic- He accuses the number 2 shareholder of newscorp of being a terrorist supporter, and he works for Fox News... He fake cries and contradicts himself.

I don't know if he is controlled op or if he is just self motivated, and crazy. Either way, its not good.

reply to post by NewlyAwakened


Mr. Beck isn't a man. Glen Beck is an industry. Scripted, modeled, coached and programed to appeal to a certain demographic. A human vehicle to hang the advertising of Depends, gold coins, Viagra, False teeth glue, Diet food, etc. on.

The people behind Mr. Beck aren't fools. And neither is Glen Beck. There are brilliant A&R guys, producers and executives tracking every nuance that Mr. Beck makes to keep him on top of the ratings to move that merchandise.

Beck is Sold just like Oprah, Hanna Montana, or any other pop star; only with a different shtick.

Schools out, now go play....

Does anyone here know why Beck left CNN for Fox?

America let a huge opportunity pass us by when ALL MEDIA shunned Dr. Ron Paul.

He knew what we were heading for. Yet the MEDIA made a mockery of him and his ideals. Now look at America.

It's a shame. I know too many people who are facing hardships because of past and current administrations.

I fly a GADSDEN flag. Not for the TEA PARTY. But for what it stands for in a historical sense.

Look up Ron Paul and I challenge anyone to present an educated response to anything he says.

Glenn Beck is not a politician. He's an entertainer and does not give two sh!ts about anything except gaining viewers and making money.

Ron Paul cares about America. He's made himself through hard work and caring for fellow humans. And he believes strongly in the CONSTITUTION of the United States of America.

May America be blessed and prosper!

Originally posted by time91
Desensitization- He is allowed to mention these terms and things like this because it desensitizes people slowly.

I guess if a catastrophe is inevitable, then pre-desensitization might keep people under control. But admirable mental preparation would look the same, and how can one tell which of the two Beck is trying to encourage?

Originally posted by time91
Discrediting Theories- He says he doesn't believe in things like this, so his audience won't (fans I mean); and no one else takes him seriously so him mentioning them actually brings a negative emotional association (IMO).

It may indeed be a rare thing for someone watching his show to actually have the curiosity to Google things he says, instead of taking for granted that this thing Beck mentioned that they never heard about is nonsense because Beck said so. But for whom else would he even mention those things?

Originally posted by time91
Sensationalist- He freaks out all the time to keep the people watching. He distorts issues so small ones seem big and big ones are sometimes ignored or barely talked about.
Psychotic- He accuses the number 2 shareholder of newscorp of being a terrorist supporter, and he works for Fox News... He fake cries and contradicts himself.

I think he exaggerates the emotions for dramatic effect, sure. But I never got the impression that they were 100% fabricated, and I have seen zero evidence for this (the photo shoot by itself is not enough).

Originally posted by time91
I don't know if he is controlled op or if he is just self motivated, and crazy. Either way, its not good.

Or sincere and crazy. In any case, as to whether it's good, only time will tell.



[edit on 1-9-2010 by NewlyAwakened]

He is a man. Do not trust his words, trust his actions.

Let me see, puts on a show that raises $5.5 million for the charity this past weekend. He has other charities he works on.

Sorry, a couple years back, never even knew who he was.

I have never trusted anyone in the MSM or the political field. Ever since Reagan spoke a good game and reneged on half his promises, if not more.

But, I knew the collapse was coming, with my non MSM sources, I was not caught off guard. Hell, it was obvious when you started looking. Especially when the likes of Barney Frank and others said, the economy is fundamentally sound, the housing market is fundamentally sound. So, when did they change the definition of fundamentally sound to trash?

Tell me folks, are you listening to the same sources as before? Were they right last time? So why are you still listening?

Next up, hey a new stimulus package is coming. Tell me why they need another one if there is still 350-400 billion left of the last one? Do you think that money is really there anymore?

Tell me, with the economy being truly gone, how has the stock market been kept afloat? Can anyone answer that for me?

Alright, one of the biggest things that Beck gets the hate from, is his position on the 9/11 attack. I will not go there, yes lots and lots of answers would have been nice huh? Second investigation and all. Tell me, have you heard one thing from Bush since Obama has taken over besides his pitch for Haiti? Enough about that.

I have changed my positions on things through the years, of course I do not investigate these things and discuss them for a living. Beck does. So his changes may seem quicker and more zig zag then we experience ourselves.

Like another stated, can he come right out and say what he believes, you seen what happened to Lou Dobbs right? Family and himself threatened.

No one holds all the same beliefs as I do. Of course I have and will probably change my mind on a few things.

But there is one thing I will never change my mind on, ever.

We all have the right to make our own choice, if we do not, what purpose is there?

I have one basic tenet. I have the right to Life, Liberty and Property. I shall do no harm to another and shall not infringe on another's rights.

That is what I live by politically and socio economically. This was the basic tenet of our country's founding and is the LAW of the land. Anyone against those tenets are delusional and tyrannical.

I have over the last couple years made a decision on Beck, he use to frighten me being a possible 5th column, but with every choice in his discussion and rallies, he wipes away my hesitation. His burning truth analogy is a perfect example.

He has been wrong and corrects HIMSELF. He asks for you to do your own research. He has been right about the economy. He has been right about Bush. He has been right about 85% of the time. At least.

Now, tell me of ONE politician that has that record. Also, is Beck a politician? No, he has no authority does he?

One last question.

Can anyone ever remember him endorsing a candidate?

I cannot, maybe it slips my mind. Also, to this day, he is saying that the Repubs are NOT the solution. We are.

OP, I am going to send you a U2U. I have a suspicion about Beck that I am not going to put out there. Let me know what you think privately.

Glenn Beck has failed to mention a group that has been at the heart of this countries fundamental transformation for years. That is the group of thelemites that actively work to bring christians and Islam a to war with one another.

Personally I think he is either just not done his homework or is just plain not going to go there.

Instead of "Fundamental Transformation" he should use the words "continuity of government" that is the key to understanding this plan that was in the works for years, even under George W Bush.

He has failed to address that it is not about right or left, christian, muslim or athiest. The writing is on the wall.

reply to post by NewlyAwakened

On the other hand, he may be a genuine shill for TPTB, with everything he says and does calculated to a purpose. His disclosure of facts not discussed elsewhere is to be understood as a subterfuge intended to gather together all who distrust government under a common banner, to get them listening to him unquestioningly

If this is indeed the case then Beck is truly an expert sociopath.

I think you said it all.

That being said I watch his show everyday and agree with him on most things accept when he starts rambling on about God.

I think that is where most of us are divided because not everybody agrees on what God is.

He did however acknowledge that we are need a foundation whatever we believe in and I agree but our foundation must be our pricipals.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

I was created by my mother and father, so I am totally cool with that.

What we need to embrace is our own personal power and our duty to love and care for one another.

[edit on 2-9-2010 by 12.21.12]