Glenn Beck Needs Medication

Okay. I know I'm not supposed to diagnose anyone unless I sit down and do an in-depth evaluation, but seriously folks. I think Glenn Beck needs medication.

In my previous post, I noted that the list of lost advertisers numbered 36. I was mistaken. It's 48. More have joined the list.

On his show Thursday, he spoke of Obama's army, showing clips of among other things, Black Panthers and Louis Farrakhan, and his trademark incomprehensible whiteboard scribbles showing links and secret messages if you line up words in some order that makes sense only in his mind, all to prove the President's secret plot to take over the country. The problem, which he seems not to comprehend, is that you could take any collection of words, line them up any way you want, and come up with all kinds of secret coded messages. The fact that Louis Farrakhan in one of his rants tells his audience that President Obama's election gives blacks power is somehow proof to Glenn that the President is taking over the country.

You see, in Glenn's world, if the words are spoken, they are true. But...

(Big but coming)

Words are only true if spoken by the right people. And I mean right in more ways than one. Pun very much intended.

What is so sad, is that we are a country of people raised on sound bites. Republicans care about power, money, and taking care of business. They discovered that by co-opting the Christian right, and pretending to values they neither own nor live, they have convinced a significant segment of the population that they share their values, that anyone who is different is to be feared, and the worst sin of all, that government is evil.

Even sadder, is that Democrats, coming from a perspective of inclusion and desirous of a Socratic method of developing consensus, look for the good in everyone. They come to public service with shiny bright ideals and want to reach out in peace and harmony believe that everyone truly wants to reach a compromise that has the best interests of the country at heart. After they've been there awhile, they learn how it really works and play the game.

When Democrats have an opportunity to really accomplish something, as they do now, they've forgotten how to stand up for themselves. They've never learned how to use the sound bite, to fight back on the Republican playing field, and have no conception of what to do with all the power they hold in their hands.

That's why while Glenn Beck is losing advertisers, his ratings go up. His mental stability deteriorates and he earns praise. If this is an act, give this man an Emmy.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon.
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