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Glen Beck Warns Viewers Not To Use Google
An anonymous reader writes "Glenn Beck has told his viewers to do research, but to not use Google, because 'Google is pretty deeply in bed with the government.' He points to the fact that Google is having some problems overseas, as well as Jared Cohen. Cohen is Director of Google Ideas, has worked with the State Department, and has played a role in the 2009 unrest in Iran. He also mentions social networking in sinister undertones, asking if it's government propaganda."
Let's see: Glenn Beck.
Hmmm, yes he has reasons to be afraid of Google. However that's just because he refuses to deny it. Why? Why doesn't he come forth and deny it?
"Asking questions" is how he can slander and libel without being sued.
I strongly recommend watching the South Park episode Dances with Smurfs for a pretty accurate (and lulzy) overview.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
No, he's selling books and getting ratings and a lot of money. Folks who think Beck is crazy are just as bamboozled as any of his fans. It's really hilarious.
I don't know if he's clinically diagnosed or if he's just putting on an act to make money. And it really doesn't matter. Regardless of the cause of his actions, the guy is spewing flaming ignorance all over the place.
Yes, but by saying that, *you* have taken him seriously!
As opposed to what, ignoring the loony? Just letting him spew his ignorance without any kind of rebuttal?
The fact of the matter is that he's on national TV, publishing books, and presenting some truly deranged stuff as "truth".
If he was just some kind of comedian and everybody laughed and went on with their lives, that'd be one thing. But people believe him. Folks base their world view on what he says. They cast their votes based on his insane rantings.
You can't just ignore him, because he affects American politics whether you like it or not.
The attacks on him just make his supporters circle the wagons, and maybe even gain him followers from the stupid "Well, if he's pissing people off he must be doing something right!" crowd.
So, what... Plug your ears, hum real loud, and hope the crazy isn't there when you open your eyes?
I'm thinking of writing a crazy book, and shopping it to one of these neo-con publishers, all to get me some early retirement on the backs of the ideological loons. I'm not sure yet if I should invent a new angle, or tie together multiple existing memes in a new way.
There are a lot of crazy ideas out there. And most of them are just languishing in obscurity. I have absolutely no doubt that you could throw together some really insane horseshit and make money off of it. There are plenty of paranoid/gullible/curious folks out there who'd gobble it up.
But that isn't going to put you on par with Glen Beck.
There are tons of raving loonies out there that get absolutely no attention.
What differentiates Glen Beck from some homeless idiot claiming that the world is flat is that he has an audience. He has thousands (millions?) of viewers. They actually listen to him. If he claims that Google is in league with the devil, they'll believe it. They'll go use Bing instead.
And while it might not matter to me what search engine a bunch of paranoid neocons use... It does matter to me how they vote in elections, because I live in the same country that they do. And when he gets them all riled up to vote against some random bill that would actually be quite beneficial, I suffer for it.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not arrogant enough to think that my way is the only right way to do things. I have no problem being wrong or being out-voted or whatever. But I'd prefer to be out-voted based on reality. Not the ravings of some lunatic - regardless of whether it's a genuine clinical problem or simply an act to make money.
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
I don't watch a lot of Goodman, either, basically a segment here and there recommended by other sites and linked to the middle of one of her broadcasts. Generally because the link notes she has hard information, an interview, that nobody else dug up.
Still, it seems a little harsh to mention in the same sentence (which tends to imply equivalence), somebody who runs a tiny operation with web-only access and a shoestring budget, and has won several really major awards for journalism, stories that got her beaten up in Indonesia, arrested (charges all dropped), and so forth....with a TV guy who makes $30+ million per year promoting theories like the ones under discussion...and never has to risk a thing to get his "stories".
Or, to put it another way, if that's the best "equivalent" to Glenn Beck you can come up with, you just gave the "liberal media" vs "conservative media" comparison a gigantic boost for liberalism.
Theologians can persuade themselves of anything. Anyone who can worship
a trinity and insists that his religion is a monotheism can believe
anything -- just give him time to rationalize it.
Robert A. Heinlein, JOB: A Comedy of Justice
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
I'm more of a Ron Paul fan. The only real threat from the government is they may tax us to death.
Yes, they "might." But here I am paying less taxes then at any other period during my lifetime, and the Ron Paul fans won't shut up about how I'm being taxed to death.
As a right-leaning person, there is no party for me. Republicans can't stop spending and starting pointless wars, Libertarians can't stop being misrepresenting themselves (either you're a "Constitutional originalist" or you support the Civil Rights Act, pick one) and fear-mongering, and Democrats don't have enough backbone to actually DO anything (Health Care is a perfect example. It's a gift to insurance companies that does little more than fleece the rest of us.)