Arianna Huffington Continues To Be Incited By Glenn Beck
Is Arianna Huffington vs. Glenn Beck the new Keith Olbermann vs. Bill O’Reilly, or perhaps even the new Andrew Breitbart vs. Media Matters (and a whole bunch of other people depending on the day and the Twitter)? Huffington is certainly taking advantage of every available opportunity to direct attention to what she describes as Beck’s “dangerous” language. This Sunday on Reliable Sources Huffington described Beck to host Howie Kurtz and fellow panelist Hugh Hewitt thusly:
[W]hat’s happening with Glenn Beck is he takes these apocalyptic statements that basically fuel people’s fear and anxiety and has made them his stock and trade. Literally, practically no show is done without some kind of form of inciting fear in the American people. And I think that is dangerous, especially at a time like this….[LATER] And I think that there is a reason why there’s an exception in the First Amendment to yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater. This is a crowded and anxious country, and he’s just going on repeating the same…
So, basically, nothing terribly new here on Arianna’s part. She has apparently cottoned on to the Beck phenomenon, along with everyone else, and does not like what she sees. Or else — at the risk of sounding cynical — she has cottoned on to the Beck phenomenon and decided it’s worth her while to hook her wagon to it (and really, who can blame her). Either way, I think there are a couple of problems with her line of argument.
Number one, Arianna has no sense of humor. One of the great secrets to Glenn Beck’s success is that on top of being thoroughly entertaining he is frequently hysterical (in no small part because he is willing to make fun of himself). So much so, I’m not entirely convinced even Jon Stewart can do him justice, or SNL for that matter (which is what initially inspired us to call for Beck to host it himself). Humorless lecturing about the dangers of what he does is not interesting to anyone. You need to fight chalkboard with chalkboard! (One need look no further than Tina Fey’s utterly devastating impression of Sarah Palin to see the best example of that line of attack.) If Arianna were really interested in doing some damage to Beck she would hire the folks at Funny or Die to do a daily chalkboard/fact-check/takedown of him. Lecturing folks on the Sunday shows about his apocalyptic fear factor misses the point entirely. Says Hugh Hewitt:
The idea that Glenn is inciting a dangerous element in the United States, I think that’s silly. I think that Arianna knows no one watches takes notes and acts on what Glenn Beck says…We ought to focus on Glenn Beck and why he is so popular.
That is the real question, because he is very popular. No one is holding a gun to the American public’s head and forcing them to watch Beck. Which is why this ‘Beck is inciting fear in the population’ line is, at it’s core, rather insulting to the many, many, many people who watch him. Not everyone who watches Glenn Beck is an idiot. And not everyone who watches Glenn Beck actually thinks everyone in the White House is a secret Maoist. I suspect a lot of people watch Glenn Beck because he is entertaining — he may be the most entertaining thing on TV, actually (Arianna concedes he’s a “great showman”). He is the blogosphere come to life. He is the right’s answer to Jon Stewart. That’s not to suggest what he is saying is not inflammatory or hyperbolic, he is! All the time. But when you miss the humor you also miss a large part of what makes him so attractive to so many people. Video of the entire exchange below.
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Mediaite On Glenn Beck
34 comments
germ says: It’s time for all these talk head “feuds” to put up or shut up. I am tired of hearing the Olbermann whining about O’Reilly and Huffington whining about Beck. Make a live PPV debate with the proceeds going to the charities of their choice and be done with it.
Or maybe the Octagon would be better.
The Real Royal King says: I pity Beck if he were to debate Huffington. His blubbering would be woese than when he had the botched derriere surgery.
germ says: I would take Beck’s blubbering over Olberdouche’s “too good for you” pompousness any time, any day.
The Real Royal King says: Did I say anything about Olbermann? No, I didn’t. I couldn’t raise a word of praise for either Olbermann or Beck.
germ says: I’m just saying the far right has Beck, while the far left has Olberdouche. At least Beck’s show is funny. Olberdouche’s show is filled with anger and hate. I try to watch it sometimes, but only 20% of his show (on a good day) is about something other than his hatred of the right.
I much prefer Maddow. I don’t usually agree with her, but she presents everything even-keel, albeit slanted.
Puter Boi says: I am always suspicious of people who want to shut other people up….and yet think they themselves should be able to say anything they choose.
Yes, Glynnis, Arianna has missed the point…but it isn’t her first time at the “point missing rodeo”…people forget that she was a huge supporter of Newt, Bob Dole, and that whole 1990’s “revolution” they tried to lead…only to take a sharp left turn after learning her conservative husband was gay….coincidence, huh? She missed more than a point there.
I say a pox on all of their houses…all of their glass houses.
The Real Royal King says: Germ, I would agree with you about all of your points, except Beck’s humor. He may think he is being humorous, but his humor always has a target. It is a biting humor, which I personally find to be lacking in humor.
writer says: Perhaps Huffington’s blathering against name calling would hold more validity if she’d quit appearing on Olbermann’s show all the time. She honestly can’t see any hypocrisy in that?
Azarkhan says: If you google pictures of the Huff-Hoe staff, out of approximately 70 staffers, only about 5(!) are “people of color”. My math may be faulty, but that seems like only 3.5% Why so few people of color at such a liberal job site? After all, it’s not like they’re based in Nebraska. They are in New York City, one of most diverse cities in the world.
Anyway, I’m sure that once the Huff-Hoe staff notices this teeny tiney discrepancy, most of the white staffers will turn in their resignation, so that people of color will get the same opportunity they have to work at a real hot internet site. After all, affirmative action is one of their core beliefs, isn’t it? As for the Queen Hoe, Arianna, I recommend a workshop on diversity in hiring practices.
Glenn Beck is PeeWee Herman after a few tokes of his crack pipe.
writer says: Only five people of color on Huffington’s staff? Does Olbermann know about this? I guess Arianna is also a “racist, slutty, whorish, lip-sticked bag of meat”, like all those other conservative women whom Olbermann describes. (Not that he ever resorts to name calling.)
Ted says: I tend to agree. Hysteria, mixed in with a little humor is entertaining. With that in mind I might recommend Mediate begin a new web site called Hysterical and Funny Bullsh@t. I would imagine that’s where we could find clips of Beck not to mention nude mud wrestling. Now don’t kid yourself Mediaite, there’s money in it (I’d actually pay for it). The lesson? Entertaining bullsh*t sells!!
TfT says: Well, I watched this show yesterday and I was so disappointed in Howie, who didn’t show Beck’s very classic stick it in your eye Arienna segment the day after Arienna showed up on ABC to bash Glenn. Shame on Howie – he has away of also missing the point. Arienna also defended Olbermann – which makes her continued discussion of Beck even more laughable..
And this is why Hugh Hewitt is the most measured and reasonable talk host and pundit. Arianna looks silly sitting next to Hugh.
jazzman2go says: if Keith Olbertool was a repulican he would be fired fo whatr spews out of his foul mouth
jazzman2go says: its not my spelling but my typing
The Real Royal King says: if Keith Olbertool was a repulican ….
—
If Keith Olbermann “were” a Republican …. Conditional. As for the spelling, we’ll save that for someone with far more time than I.
MFinSC says: Am I mistaken or does A have a much thicker accent now as a lib than she had when she was a conservative? The accent is a good move because it really sets her off as a whiny lib!
Jack Kennedy says: and America waits for anyone to prove beck wrong – its the reason becks ratings are so strong, as America knows the proof is not there from the obama loons
ReConUSMC says: I ask a bunch of my Marine buddies who would they like to spend some time with (at diner ) , hunt with , drink a beer with , dance. listen to , admire , trust and respect …..
The Greek Mouth or Sarah Palin ?
No one voted for the Greek Mouth . 111 voted for Sarah Palin
4 that voted for Palin were democrats ….. not Liberals
Enough said .
Ted says: Get out!! You mean you recon guys would rather hunt and drink beer and such with Sarah Palin…Y shoot dag gum!! Nuff sed!!
MichelleF says: To one of my favorite Libs, The Real Royal King,
You are correct that Beck’s humor has a target and 99% of the time, it’s someone who has taken something he’s done totally out of context (or totally made up) and he calls them out on it. His latest “target” is Joe Klein. He read a piece from him this morning in a hysterical way. I laugh out loud on a daily basis! Come on, don’t be afraid to admit it!
Michelle
MichelleF says: Personally, what I loved about this interview and the one with Ailes is her tone of voice. It was physically pained. Like she was “truely” hurt. And when she said the Olbermann’s rants were based on facts, milk shot out of my nose. That was the funniest thing I’ve heard since BO said he wasn’t an idealouge!
Michelle
Bullit says: Huffington cracks me up I spend half my time trying to figure out what she is saying. as for Keith Olberfool LOL he will never get ratings because he is a moron
pltn says: when someone actually refutes some of the facts GB has brought up I’ll listen. The more they level the insults and increase their name calling it only convinces me more that he is correct.
Lastly, I’m tired of these FASCISTS like Arinna the Idiot. Face it, she is only out to line her pockets with money. BTW: Is she sticking to her excuse about flying around the world on private jets “they were heading to where I was goin so I got a ride”…..does she think the rest of us are as corrupt and stupid as she is??????
writer says: Yes. Everyone on the left thinks that. Everything that happens is either due to racism or climate change.
J Baustian says: Ms Huffington has created this quite large, effective, and largely respected phenomenon called the Huffington Post. She runs it because she wants to influence the political dialogue and to persuade the undecided.
Then along comes this Drew Carey look-alike, this schlub from the world of talk radio, someone she would never invite to a dinner party because he’d probably pick up food with his fingers like the Blues Brothers at Chez Paul.
And Glenn Beck is kicking ass, doing more with less than all the high-priced talent at the Huff Po. He has a plan, more like a syllabus, of what he wants to do, and there’s even a reading list. He’s out to educate the American people about who their enemies really are, That’s a pretty scary thing for those on the left.
Lastly, Glynnis MacNicol is right to criticize Huffington’s lack of humor. i am old enough to remember when Ariana got her start in political commentary — it was on Comedy Central, in a segment called Strange Bedfellows. She was funny then, and she can still be pleasant and amusing sometimes. I hope she never loses that quality.
wax69 says: one thing that the writer of this article forgot to note, or just plain left out ,is the fact that not one single person has debunked anything glenn beck has said. and why that has not happened. common sense and logic would tell you that these liberal talk show hosts cant debunk any of it so they have to resort to name calling . its a typical progressive trick, but i think the writer left out one more thing. people dont watch glenn beck because he is entertaining… they watch him because everything that he says on his radio and tv show he actually backs up with audio ,video ,or historical evidence. unless you would like to say that people are entertained by the facts backed up with evidence. people are hungry for the truth and that is why glenn beck is so popular. how long would he last if he lied about everything and never backed up his words with any evidence???
pltn says: to further that, news corp would have been sued by now if he lied as the fascists would have you believe.
renagle says: First off, who can understand this monotone Zsa Zsa? Geez. Secondly, let her keep going on television arguing these points. I mean, the left is breathlessly*gaspingly*I do delcare!* outraged over….wait for it…..bullet points Palin wrote on her hand! I mean, forget jobs, forget massive deficits, forget a deflating dollar, we must be OUTRAGED that Sarah Palin wrote something on her hand! And they wonder why we laugh at them and the thing is now, Barry and the Democrat failures are so enormous that the independents, the ones too “pure” to get into the political fray and actually choose a side, are finally, paying attention and are running away from the leftist agenda as fast as the elections come. I love Arianna for her faux outrage. It’s good entertainment watching someone like Hewitt—and in this case also Kurtz with his smirk—enjoying her pathetic hypocrisy. Besides, Barry said in a speech that he didn’t want “the folks who created this mess to do a lot of talking”. So, minus the fact it was Democrats Barney Frank and Chriss Dodd amoungs others who allowed and Fannie/Freddie to survive when Repubs tried to get control over starting in ‘05, who does he expect to stop talking? Republicans? He wants them to shut up? Hmmmmm. Behold Presidential behavior in Barry Obama! Palin was right and should keep on keeping on driving the left mad with rage. I love it they hate her with irrational passion. She’s the new Pavlovian trigger now that GWB is gone. You Go Girl! I may not vote for you in the ‘12 primary if you run, but you’ll always have my support!
felixw says: Great article on “Ten Questions for Arianna Huffington”
http://thecablegame.blogspot.com/2010/02/ten-questions-for-arianna-huffington.html
pltn says: so I went to the Huff Post this morning, read one of the articles and went to post a comment and………………………………I got the “Sorry, your banned from commenting” messege.
A true sign that the progressive argument is incredibly weak. Who said Fascism is dead, it’s alive and well at the Huff Post I can tell ya. I’ve never posted anything that violates their policy and certainly have read posts that are much worse than mine, except they target conservatives.
Funny – I got the same thing from Redstate and Newsbusters. Won’t take my comments and haven’t for sometime.
Is this the apology they rerred to from Olbermann for “going too far”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydNY-9xNzB0&feature=related
Did they miss the apology or only catch the shortened sound clip?
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