Guest Rant : Glenn Beck Is A Tool.

Alright kids, here's the scoop. I have been asked to publish a guest rant. I am not a Glenn Beck expert by any means. I think he is a tool and cannot bare to listen to him long enough to become an expert. So I pass along these words of wisdom. Stay tuned next week for my own personal rant that actually compliment this topic well. It's titled "Can't We All Just Get Along? Except You.... I Hate You."

Cya in 7.

"Dang I've been frustrated lately. I am so upset that so many of my friends like Glenn Beck. I have listened to him and I cannot believe that people in my church love him so much. He has strong opinions that are divisive. The things he says are rude, crude, criticizing, divisive, and the complete opposite of the Article of Faith #13. It frustrates me because I don't think these people should listen to such filth. It seems to me that there are a lot of people who hate Glenn Beck and his show and they also dog on him for his religion. I think that is why so many members of the church are so defensive about Glenn Beck. Because he is a member of the church they either agree with him, or they like him, or they don't speak out against him because he is a member. I have no problems speaking out against him but I have a fear that people won't like me because of it. But I truly, honestly, think what he does is morally wrong. It goes against everything I believe in. The way he belittles others views, acts condescending, lies, makes a lot out of nothing, creates false fear and scenarios. I think he's taking people's eye off the ball and distracting them with fear. Isn't that exactly what Satan wants us to do? Just sit back and listen to how the world could possible fall apart rather than get on our feet, get involved, be supportive, be hopeful, be helpful, be unified? Glenn Beck doesn't promote positive change. He thinks of random, stupid, not even possible situations and rants how America's death is about to occur.

What I want to ask people is "If you didn't know that Glenn Beck was a Mormon, would you still watch/listen to his show?"

In his 2007 Washington Post profile of Glenn Beck, David Segal wrote, "Listen to a few of Beck's shows and what strikes you most is the enormous ratio of words to substance - how Beck can monologue for minutes at a time and leave behind almost nothing except the impression of great vehemence."


James Poniewozik wrote an article called Glenn Beck: The Fears of a Clown. It was published in Time Magazine on April 8, 2009. In it he explains the rising popularity of the Fox News program, Glenn Beck. The article is as follows. (I couldn't decide which parts I liked best so I thought I would share the whole thing).

“On March 23, Treasury Secretary, Timothy Giethner, unveiled the Obama Administration's toxic-bank-assets plan. The stock markets cheered the news, sending the Dow up 497 points.

This meant one thing: it was time for Glenn Beck to break out the Jenga set.

The new populist superstar of Fox News has made a refrain of predicting that government policies are leading to disaster — dark, ruinous, blood-in-the-streets kind of disaster. Pausing for a 17-minute speech rebutting his critics for calling him "dangerous" and "crazy," he took out the block-tower game. On opposite sides of the tower were written the words solution and problem, taxpayer and children. Then he spent much of the hour critiquing the plan, all the while pulling pieces from the wobbling tower and stacking them on top.

For Beck, Jenga is a metaphor for the plan's risk. But it is also a metaphor for Beck's show, which teeters from humor to predictions of apocalypse to self-esteem sermons to fits of weeping. ("I'm sorry. I just love my country. And I fear for it.") This is what makes it so compelling: the breathless feeling that at any moment, everything could spectacularly collapse.

A year ago, with Fox News in an election-year ratings slump, some TV observers (like me) wondered if its conservative commentators could thrive in an Obama era. The answer is yes, and how. Fox roared back and has more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined.

It's succeeded partly because of its veteran stars Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. But to Hannity's tax-cut Republicanism and O'Reilly's grumpy social conservatism, Beck adds an au courant strain of grievance. Beck had a similar program on Headline News (which I appeared on once), on which he at one point asked a Muslim Congressman to "prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." After he moved to Fox in January, his audience exploded to 2 million-plus viewers — unheard of at 5 p.m. His hook, for the age of economic anxiety: whereas O'Reilly embodies anger and Hannity brashness, Beck embraces fear.

Fear of what? Take your pick. Fear that the U.S. is on a long march to fascism. (As evidence, Beck cited — on April Fools' Day but apparently seriously — the inclusion of fasces on the Mercury dime in 1916.) That fat cats and bureaucratic "bloodsuckers" are plundering your future. That Mexico will collapse and chaos will pour over the border. That America believes too little in God and too much in global warming. That "they" — Big Government, Big Business, Big Media — are against you. Above all, that you, small-town, small-business America — Palinville — have been forgotten. Dismissed. Laughed at. Just like him.

It's hard to identify a Beck ideology so much as a set of attitudes, sometimes contradictory ones. He channels anger against Wall Street but defends the bonuses for AIG executives. He devoted a segment to debunking a conspiracy theory about FEMA "concentration camps" but has warned that the AmeriCorps program "indoctrinates your child into community service."

What unites Beck's disparate themes is a sense of siege. On March 13, he served up a kind of fear combo platter — war, chaos, totalitarianism, financial ruin — with the 9/12 Project, a tearful call to viewers to rediscover the common purpose they felt after 9/11. In 2001, that common purpose involved cable-news talkers' dialing down the us-vs.-them shtick for a day or two; now Beck urged viewers to reject the notion that "they" have all the power. "They don't surround us," he declared. "We surround them."

Beck's surround sound plays like a mix of colonial pamphleteering, Great Depression demagoguery and the movie Red Dawn. But is he serious? He describes himself as a "rodeo clown," and he is a talented TV showman — joking and self-effacing, with a gift for big visuals and low-tech explainer stunts like his Jenga bit. Unlike O'Reilly et al., he's not a shouter. He calls his program "the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment."

Then again, he recently devoted a "War Room" episode to gaming out an American economic collapse in 2014 — the result of debt and high taxes — including the rise of "Mad Max" militias and civil unrest. Because if anything spells laff riot, it's the breakdown of lawful society! Whether Beck is stirring up frightening social currents or just playing in them, his material and its resonance are deadly serious.

Of course, I'm a "them." And if there's one thing we thems love, it's tarring dissenters as scary. As he played with his Jenga tower, Beck made just that point, introducing his next guest, former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. "Remember," Beck said sarcastically, "he is a dangerous militia member!"

Then a wooden piece gave way, and the whole toy edifice came crashing down.”


Different forms of media have a way of evoking our emotions. I’ve noticed that after I listen to Glenn Beck, certain emotions arise every time. I feel angry, discouraged, fearful, and frustrated with the world I live in. I’m unmotivated to do anything. What good will it do? The world is going to hell. Straight to hell.

Although the Jenga analogy is dramatic and entertaining to watch, it is not in my nature to want things to crash and fall. In fact, I feel it is my moral obligation to be a builder. To be part of a solution. To move onward and upward. To go forward. To learn and grow. To be optimistic and hopeful. To use the past as a compass to guide and direct my future. To be one in purpose with those around me. To love and serve. To improve every day.

I admit when I listen to Glenn Beck rant about random, stupid, not even possible situations, I get irritated. Why is he tearing down instead of building up? Why is he criticizing instead of offering up solutions? Well, I know the answer to that. It’s all about money and fame. Fear-mongering entertainment creates a following. Followers create advertising and advertising creates money. And Glenn Beck has lots of it.

I am afraid that many of his LDS followers follow him because they are looking for a political voice to guide them. The Church does not speak out politically or socially, leaving members of the faith to gather their own facts and form their own opinions. They trust their political souls to Glenn Beck, wrongly assuming that because they agree on religion, they also agree on politics.

There is a danger in following someone who creates fear instead of faith. Cynicism breeds discouragement and frustration and leads to anger and apathy. There is doubt instead of hope. There is distraction instead of action. There is the chance of falling off course.

This past General Conference, President Monson gave an outstanding talk called “Be of Good Cheer” which illustrated the need for a certain maturity when dealing with difficult times, reminding us that life on earth has always been hard and will always be hard. He reminds us not to dwell on what is wrong in the world and not to get discouraged or cynical. But to set our sights on God and let faith overcome fear. “This attitude” he says, “is what will pull us through whatever comes our way. It will not remove our troubles from us but rather will enable us to face our challenges, to meet them head on, and to emerge victorious.”

What advice would President Monson give us during these difficult days ahead? He admonishes us to “be of good cheer, and do not fear,” and reminds us that “I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.”

The entire LDS Conference was a message of love and reassurance. I didn’t hear criticisms or mentions of boycotts or tea parties or socialism. Speaking of socialism, did you know Joseph Smith once suggested that we change to a national banking system? (Just had to throw that in since this is my rant).

I end my rant with these words from Elder Ballard, who addressed the General Conference in October 2003 and said, “Brothers and sisters, refuse to be used. Refuse to be manipulated….We may be a small voice to begin with; nevertheless, let us encourage a more uplifting, inspiring, and acceptable media.” " ~ Anonymous