Rachel Maddow: Glenn Beck Fans The Ones Most Likely To Mail Me Death Threats
If this is the beginning of some sort of media match between Glenn Beck and Rachel Maddow, then I think Maddow won the first round. Where to start. To begin, it looks like Glenn Beck is in trouble again for not remembering what he himself has said. This time with Rachel Maddow. However, unlike his last exchange with Arianna Huffington over his use of the word “slaughter,” Maddow actually packs a serious punch. Of all the media persons, critics, pseudo-critics, or comedians out there, Maddow is really the only one who I think stands a serious chance of taking Beck on (something that is in no small part due to her sense of humor).
You can watch the video below for an explanation of the entire back-and-forth (and I recommend that you do, because it’s long) but the short-ish version is that last week Maddow had on Bill Nye the Science Guy to talk climate change and he called the people on TV who were suggesting that the East Coast’s recent snowy deluge was a sign global warming was a hoax “unpatriotic.” Glenn Beck responded on his radio program asking “who has claimed that this snowstorm is proof that global warming doesn’t exist?” Turns out Beck has! A fact Maddow noted on a following show. Subsequently, Beck played back Maddow’s clip (please watch the video below for full black eye-band effect), but somehow edited out the part where she produces her evidence, essentially calling Maddow a liar. Last night, Maddow replayed the entire thing to illustrate Beck’s selective editing followed by more examples (I told you this was a long back and forth). She then had this to say (video below):
Mr. Beck is supposedly the best they got. Mr. Beck is this phenomenon who they’re keeping on for his ratings even as he’s lost so many sponsors. He’s supposedly the leader of a political movement, not just a TV host. I get hate mail from all sorts of conservatives all the time, I always have, but it is the hate mail from self-proclaimed fans of Mr. Beck that is mostly likely to contain death threats and threats of violence against me. Expressed as extensions of the frenzied devotion that his fans feel for him. They think he is the second coming.
And in conclusion:
Glenn Beck is telling his viewers that I’m a liar and a propagandist for pointing out his cockamamie claim that snowfall disproves global warming. He has, in fact, made that cockamamie claim. A lot. No matter how much he denies it…I commend Mr. Beck for his success. I wish his giant audience all the best. He has made a lot of people very afraid about a lot of things and that tried and true strategy has reaped big financial rewards for him and for Fox News. I think it’s between you and your God or you and your conscience as to how much you’re willing to stir up American’s fear and prejudice for profit. But it’s between you and me when you accuse me of lying. I didn’t lie. Back off.
BACK OFF. I’m not unconvinced that Maddow should not make fact-checking Beck at least a weekly part of her show, though, alas, I suspect she may feel it’s beneath her. In the meantime, we will have to wait and see whether Beck actually does “back off” (I suspect, no) and/or whether he takes this to the next level and addresses it on his television show in all his chalkboard glory (I think the remark about violent fan mail might get under his skin more than anything). One can dream. Video below.
