“I struggle so hard to be a decent human being.”
Glenn Beck in an interview with the Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah
Heeeee’s Back! After a brief, and according to the residents of ugh-Beck-istan undeserved, time-out, an unrepentant Glenn Beck is back on the air to thrill us all, once again, with his “pearls of political wisdom.” It appears that his hiatus was not ill spent either, for Beck, the investigative journalist, spent that time uncovering a nefarious, far-reaching Commie plot to infiltrate and subvert the highest governmental committees in the land!
Gee thanks, Glenn, the rest of us “sheep” would have completely missed that. You are a True Patriot. Too bad Joe McCarthy isn’t here to pin a medal on you.
Beck uncovered this sneaky subversive scheme while fuming over how to best settle the score with ColorofChange.org. You’ll remember that Color of Change was the group that “outwitted the nitwit” with their online campaign to educate advertisers about what their marketing dollars were supporting on Fox News. Now Glenn Beck is not one to take the direct approach and call out, insult or otherwise go head-to-head with CofC director, James Rucker – that would be a little too manly.
You’ll notice that Beck isn’t comfortable inviting any credible opponent to debate issues with him on the air. The closest he’ll come is some unknown born-again Democrat who used to disagree with Beck’s views but has come to see the light cast by Paul Revere’s lantern. It’s not surprising that Beck tends to play it safe, his few forays into the real world did not go well at all. Witness his public dismemberment on The View this past May . . .
So, we all heard it straight from the horse’s mouth: “I am not an investigative journalist . . . I am a commentator.” Guess that’s why he doesn’t let facts get in the way of a good commentary.
Beck the Commentator
Since his recent statements on Fox and Friends regarding President Obama’s racism are indefensible, and the fallout oh so “real world,” Beck can’t use his airwaves to mount a plausible defense and woo his advertisers back. So he’s left with the “stealth approach.”
Beck’s “stealth approach” is to set himself up with a white board for his flow-charty doodles about diabolically interconnected threats to the Republic and invite a few similarly reality-challenged Foxbots to sit in and nod gravely about Beck’s conspiracy theory du jour. The latest target of Beck’s “stealth approach” is Van Jones, who, back in March, was appointed a Special Advisor for Green Jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The same Van Jones who, four years ago, while working on multiple civic projects, helped set up Color of Change and then, his work finished, moved on. See where we’re going? (If I were Beck, this is where I would kick off some ominous dirge in a minor key for ambiance.)
It’s pretty obvious that while Beck was on sabbatical he was “cautioned” by some grown-up in Fox’s legal department that he, Beck, should stay very, very far away from any mention of Color of Change or the advertiser exodus from his time slot. (we’ll see how long that lasts).
Now the particular Van Jones story that Beck is pushing – Van Jones as wild-eyed Black Nationalist and Communist agitator – is basically “old news.” It flapped around on its leathery little wings from one minor league right-wing blog to another a few weeks ago and was gone. My guess, as to why this story never made a big splash in the conservative blogosphere, is that a twelve-year old with a Google machine could debunk it in about a minute and a half. Indeed, when I set about doing just that, all the facts I needed were right on top of the dogpile.
The Van Jones story first popped up back in mid-July because his appointment was announced in March and it generally takes the Right-Wing Truth Brigade about three months to research and butcher a story. By that time, most right-thinking individuals were incredibly busy getting ready for the purely spontaneous grassroots movement known as the August Blitz – oiling up their assault weapons, dressing up Obama and Nancy Pelosi in Photoshop and other patriotic pursuits.
And then, just when the “sleeping giant” had awakened and the rest of the country was trembling in awe at the realization that righteous conservatives really still run the show, along came the Color of Change getting all sensitive and picky, picky, picky about Beck’s ruminations on Obama’s “hatred for white people.”
That was when it all came together for Beck. The Van Jones story (right-wing version) was a bonanza for Beck. It had all the makings of a multi-tentacled “axis of evil” thriller starring Glenn Beck as the self-effacing, “aw shucks” hero who not only uncovers the plot but wakes us up and saves us all from the slow agonizing death of creeping communism just in the nick of time.
The problem underlying Beck’s “scoop” on Van Jones’ strategy for World Domination is the usual Beck problem – Beck and the Truth are not very well acquainted. The tagline for Beck’s TV show is “the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment.” (No. I’m not kidding . . .) When it’s a toss-up, though, Beck will sacrifice the “enlightenment” for the “entertainment” every time. Not that he has a good grip on the entertainment piece, either – unless, of course, you’re a fifteen year old boy or an alienated Paranoiac who may be (or should be) under the influence of mind-altering substances.
Whenever I write about Glenn Beck, it is always with a real aversion to giving him any additional attention. It’s like giving candy to a bratty five year old to stop a tantrum. But damn it, the man lies and misinforms and, in my opinion, is far more damaging to our American culture than all of his wingnut conspiracies, put together, would be if they were real.
Here’s what Beck had to say about Van Jones:
Here’s the Truth about Van Jones:
Van Jones’s awards and honors include:
2009 – New York Times Bestselling Author for The Green Collar Economy
2009 – Time 100 Most Influential People, Time Magazine
2009 – selected as one of the Ebony Power 150
2009 – the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award, presented to those who best exemplify selfless and devoted service in the cause of equality.
2009 – “Rolling Stone 100: Agents of Change” (#89); Rolling Stone Magazine
2009 – Eco-Entrepreneur Award, Institute for Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Innovation; Howard University
2009 – Individual Thought Leadership, Energy & Environment Awards; Aspen Institute
2008 – One of 17 “Sexiest Men Living”; Salon.com
2008 – Best Dressed Environmental List (#1 of 30); Sustainable Style Foundation
2008 – Time Magazine Environmental Hero
2008 – designation as one of Essence Magazine’s 25 most influential/inspiring African-Americans
2008 – Elle Magazine Green Award
2008 – One of the George Lucas Foundation’s “Daring Dozen”
2008 – Hunt Prime Mover Award
2008 – Campaign for America’s Future “Paul Wellstone Award”;
2008 – Global Green USA “Community Environmental Leadership” Award
2008 – designation as one of the nation’s “Plenty 20″ in the October/November 2008 edition of Plenty Magazine
2008 – San Francisco Foundation Community Leadership Award
2008 – One of Fast Company’s “12 Most Creative Minds”
2008 – Puffin/Nation prize for “Creative Citizenship”
2008 – World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader”
2000 – International Ashoka Fellowship
1998 – Reebok International Human Rights Award
1997-1999 – Rockefeller Foundation “Next Generation Leadership” Fellowship
In 2008, Tom Friedman profiled Van in his bestselling book, Hot, Flat & Crowded. Also in 2008, Wilford Welch featured him in the book Tactics of Hope, and Joel Makower highlighted Van’s ideas in the book Strategies for the Green Economy.
Looks like Beck is somewhat “out on limb” with his critique of Van Jones. Looks like pretty much the rest of the Free World disagrees with him. Looks like the very scary Mr. Jones does more good for society in a week than Glenn Beck has done in his life so far . . .
UPDATE:
Now, I’m already seeing some smug conservatives commenting around the Internet in this vein:
“Just imagine what would have happened if George Bush had tried to appoint someone like Van Jones.”
So, to nip that discussion in the bud, here’s a final dose of Truth to send you on your way:
In February, The DC Shuffle posted an article called The Bush Appointee Resignation Scorecard. Here’s a snip:
“Forty-two Bush Administration appointees resigned under a cloud of controversy over the past eight years. Only now could a final tally be calculated. So many had resigned that it actually has become difficult to remember every one of them. Some were well illuminated by the mainstream media while others were just a passing blip on the political radar. I had originally compiled this list back in October 2007 and at that time, the list held 21 names. Further research uncovered the names of some that I’d missed in the original post and time since then has revealed the rest. The original 21 names are listed first with the new shameful additions added on.”
“. . . the final list of Bush administration officials who resigned under at least questionable if not dishonorable conditions. Most commonly the resignations are ethically based, sometimes criminally based, while others are just a matter of sheer ineptitude.”
“. . . I also did not list those who did resign under controversy but who were later found to have done nothing wrong. Only the resignations that were nothing but cover for being fired or attempting to escape a controversy or indictment are listed below.”
“Of the 42 resignations, there have been nine criminal convictions thus far.”
It’s really worth going to see the whole list in all of it’s well-documented grisly glory . . .
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