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Glenn Beck Reports CIA Plot Between Embassy Killing and Something Awful
An anonymous reader writes "Here's one that even The Onion would reject as too blatantly ridiculous: American right-wing radio and TV clown Glenn Beck believes that Sean Smith aka Vile Rat, the EVE Online diplomat who was killed earlier this month during the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, was actually a CIA agent, relaying communications to his fellow undercover agents at Something Awful."
I don't believe anything that guy says. He is only after ratings, and by extension, money.
This is why Beck is so against socialized healthcare - because if we had it, he'd be institutionalized for being so completely fucking nuts.
Would the Onion reject it? Or would they pay Glenn Beck to work deep undercover on the cutting edge of embedded satirical news radio?
People are talking about Glenn Beck :-P
"Paranoia strikes deep, into your lives it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid. Step out of line, the man comes and takes you away."
Really. The fine line between clear batshit-crazy paranoia and justifiable concern grows thinner and thinner the deeper down the "terrorists!" Rabbit hole we go. The cited song refered to the last boogeyman: "Commies!", but it fits very well, if eerily, 50 years later with "Terrorists!"
People like Glen Beck just drink the koolaid. Rather than point and laugh about his over the top paranoia, take an honest look at how batshit we are acting in regard to "Terrorists!", where we are scared of plastic knives, exploding underwear, and flamable mouthwash to the point where we grope and tickle old women and 2 year old children as a daily occurance at our borders.
In times like these, agencies like the CIA get ever expanding license to do stupid, batshit crazy stuff to "catch them terrorists", and "make us feel safe!" As such, things like the silly stupid of this story might not actually be as silly stupid as they seem.
That is what is truly scary.
He's not a particularly reliable source. Move along, no news here.
Bruce Perens.
Ooh, is someone upset that the GOP and its representatives (official or otherwise) would be taken for being mad?
Beck falls into chasm created by Poe's law.
I see, people see Beck say wild shit and you accuse people here of suffering from Aspergers. Real classy one you are.
Considering the man can't tell a joke for shit and the other wild-ass garbage come out of the Republican Party these days, I'm not surprised at all that people missed it.
IT'S A CONSPIRACY! And Slashdot is in on it too! Careful, you're starting to sound like Beck as well.
The Earth is 6,000 (excuse me, 6,016) years old, creation by a deity is a better explanation than evolution by natural selection, homosexuality is a choice and a sin, and women are meant to be subservient and deliver every time they conceive. When a party already believes laughable things like that, it’s hard to tell the sarcasm from the seriousness anymore.
Here is the official summary of the episode from Glenn Beck's website:
http://www.glennbeck.com/2012/09/17/is-the-obama-administration-covering-up-scandalous-details-in-libya-attack/
Note particularly this part at the end:
Audio from the relevant portion of the episode is posted on Soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/nivdes/glenn-beck-goonswarm-is
"Goonswarm" is the name of the in-game organization affiliated with Something Awful.
TL;DR: It really did happen.
New for Nerds not from Idiots. Stop this shit.
"Considering the inability of the supposed "geniuses" on this site to spot an obvious joke that Mitt Romney made last week"
No, no jokes are funny.
Glenn Beck has been known to use this device known as "sarcasm"
Good point. There's a talk show host named Rush who does the same thing; basically says ridiculous stuff to get people's attention. But the foaming at the mouth crowd takes them both seriously.
when was the last time he was relevant? and with regard to his purported comment: thats his job. his job is to say, or do anything to anyone in order to garner enough attention to sell advertising slots. the formula is to find a hot-button item and exploit it. Whether he believes anything he says is irrellevant. He lost his job on Fox News because his ability to draw advertisers plummeted once americans realized the stalinist dystopia he insisted upon never arrived. Sean Hannity, Bill Oreilly, Glenn Beck, and Limbaugh are all designed and employed to keep people interacting with and talking about their respective shows. None have any expertise in anything of a technical nature, ever.
Good people go to bed earlier.
the right side of politics sure has been "funny" a lot lately
Why would the CIA, with a $50 billion budget, use public forums rather than some sort of secure satellite link or a VPN?
Now here's my point: How many people on this site will insult Glenn Beck, some nut on the radio who has no real power, while giving the White House a free pass?
Good point. Then again most people here are still giving the White House a free pass on Fast and Furious along with Holder and Obama and the killing of 300+ Mexicans a US border agent, a mass murder(most recently discovered and linked at a party of teenagers), or they're blaming Bush still because that's the line the WH is still trying to feed on the narrative. Even though under Bush's program their guns were tracked. Under Obama and Holder they simply let the guns walk away.
Om, nomnomnom...
yes! clearly, barack obama is the real reason why glenn beck is such a fucking moron. it's so obvious! is there anything obama isn't responsible for?
Glenn Beck has been known to use this device known as "sarcasm" which tends to escape the Aspergers crowd that runs Slashdot.
Isn't everything he says sarcastic?
I have to admit that the right seems to have a very weird sense of humor these days (assuming Romney really was joking about those airplane windows) that seems to go past us feeble-minded libbies. On the other hand, right wing bloviators do tend to say stupid things in all seriousness and then claim they were being sarcastic when they're called on it. I guess that's why they say everything with a smirk, since this expression is so ambiguous with respect to seriousness.
Did the internet make you stupid?
Attack its weak point for massive damage!
Let's not pretend Beck's critics are left-wing. They may be predominantly Democrats (and other anti-TeaParty people) and disagree on how the power of the state should be applied, but they are as supportive as any of giving the state that power.
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
Really? Is this what Slashdot has become? Posting Glenn Beck rants?
Pull your head out of your ideological ass. Beck is a fucking mental case, and anyone with two brain cells can see that. Because you're a rabid ideologue doesn't mean you get your own reality. Beck rarely uses sarcasm, he mostly uses paranoid delusions... and it takes another fucking moron to believe his crap and defend him as something other than a fucking idiot.
Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
1. Of course he's nuts, but do you think it would be impossible for the CIA to use an online game like Eve to communicate in some circumstances?
Right, because there's nothing suspicious about an undercover operative who suddenly needs to contact headquarters firing up a video game. I guess that would be somebody infiltrating the Al Qada's notorious gold farming operation.
Ask Osama about his experience in international affairs.
Since when are most people here giving that a pass? Most people here tend to think that both sides are fucked up. A lot of people just decide that one is less fucked up and go with the less fucked up one (which goes both ways). But a lot of us just hold on to that they're both fucked up and we're headed down the shitter in the US either way. Personally, I'm the latter: to say that any side is more fucked up than the other is just bickering over which way you want the pineapple being shoved up your ass to be pointed.
Monday morning quarterbacking sure is fun. And the best part is, you can never be wrong!
Even though under Bush's program their guns were tracked. Under Obama and Holder they simply let the guns walk away.
Which brings us to the bigger point... people give the White House something of a pass because Obama isn't THE ONLY PERSON IN THE GOVERNMENT. He doesn't have a say in the minute details of everything... how ridiculous is it to even think that he would? But, the fascist conservatives hate Obama, so they'll lie like son of a bitches EVERY TIME something happens. They tracked the guns under Bush, they tracked the guns under Obama... fucking mental midget ideologues want to lie, however, and make asinine statements like you did.
Quit fucking lying, and you'll get a little respect.
Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
If Obama had called it terrorism immediately, you'd be accusing him of scaremongering. No matter what he does, you'll call it the wrong thing. Why should anyone even care what you think any more? You're openly trying to turn the murder of innocent people into a politcal cudgel. Fuck you.
I don't get why all these posts that belong on Media Matters or Crooks and Liars show up on Slashdot. Glenn Beck's an idiot and everybody's lying about the embassy attack in Libya. Yea, we get it. Take it somewhere else - this isn't "News for nerds" - it's clickbait. Take it somewhere else.
"Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
--- Jerry Garcia
But I do suffer from Asperger's, you insensitive clod!
This whole Benghazi thing is driving people nuts, just like 9/11.
They think: How does this shit happen without a devious plot by the CIA, Illuminati, or some other shadowy government operatives?
We are unable or unwilling to accept that both happened because of shear stupidity, hubris, and incompetence. (and not necessarily in that order)
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
Right, now it's time to grow up. So, remember Iran-contra? And how the democrats blamed Regan for everything. No? Okay. So remember the last 8 years and oh let's go with the housing crisis. That was obviously all Bush's fault right. Despite the fact that in 2002 and 2003, that the republicans tried to change the rules but were blocked by the democrats. Wait, he was the only person in the government. Now that your little temper tantrum is done, you'd better get your head out of the sand.
Under Obama they were not tracked, the documents received showed that. The real problem that comes back on this is that the democrats themselves are stonewalling and it has become a civil case because the DoJ itself is blocking further investigations into the issue. Now, if you're finished lying to yourself perhaps, just perhaps you learned something today.
Om, nomnomnom...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/magazine/job-creation-campaign-promises.html?pagewanted=all
Good zinger, really! I chuckled.
But the Prez can do very little to create jobs, realistically. Obama may have an easier time creating the Unicorn we all seem to want. Add in a obstructionist, insane House, and the Euro wanting to implode the European Union?
Good zinger though, really...
Why not ask the president? he will tell you whose fault it all is.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Whenever someone calls you out on your BS claim that it's either humor or sarcasm. too bad the grownups aren't dense enough to believe you.
Uh.. as many people on Slashdot point out all the time, *LOTS* of people play online games. So what do you do if you are a spy and want to communicate without raising suspicion... do what *LOTS* of other people do and blend in.
James Bond is not a real spy, Joe Blow, the average guy who you pass on the street without even noticing is what a real spy looks like. If it is expected that a white guy in his 20s - 30s and who is kind of nerdy will play video games, then that is an excellent thing for an operative to do so that he blends in with every expected stereotype.
I'm not saying that this particular guy was doing it, but for you to call it ridiculous is patently silly... especially given the credulity of people on this website to every single conspiracy theory that supports the pet-prejudices that are promoted around here.
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/18/news/economy/obama-bush-jobs/?source=cnn_bin
And what is Dubya's excuse during his orgy of spending? Where was the outcry then?
Come to think of it, even as an independent, Dubya made me cry a lot...
Your eloquently supported position convinced me. After all, what Beck says is nearly as crazy as calling a person an "EVE Online diplomat". And to suggest that the CIA would do anything wrong is just insane.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Wait, your position is that Beck has a radio show that features him saying things in jest, for entertainment, and that he shouldn't be taken seriously, but that it's flamebait to call him a clown?
*LOTS* of people play online games
Lots of people don't play MMORPGs that suck up half their lives. What kind of cover story includes that much time spent on a collective fantasy? Not one that includes actual time spent gathering intelligence.
You mention that James Bond is fiction. That's very true. Real secret agents don't have elaborate schemes for doing ordinary things, like talking to people.
I always wonder about the people who compare Obama to Bush. It's like comparing yourself to a squirrel or a bonobo monkey, if you can't do obviously better then you are in trouble.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
As a former goon, and former goonfleet pilot I can say how tightknit that
/. effect with malice, e.g. hitting the reload button on a site you didn't like until the pipes clogged, at the same time as every other goon. Back in the day, it was very feasible to clog down the low-rent juggalo, furry, pedo, and other stupid sites somethingawful would target. They also asked eachother for advice. traded stories, made confessions, trolled eachother. There was "goon justice", when goons fucked up a pedophile, scammer, spammer, or other internet lowlife. The also did photoshop contests, made memes, and trolled eachother really hard.
1. something awful is
2. goonfleet in particular was.
I am still in shock and disbelief that both get into the news, and vile rat will be deeply missed.
Some back story, before there was 4chan, there was something awful. Goons used to do pranks and raids (far more mild that what 4chan/anonymous eventually became). Goons became named "Goons" because they were Lowtax's "goons" who'd invade forums and crash websites. But there were no LOIC, or any other tools. it was just using the
There were also pranks, such as habo hotel, and the like.
The Forums "Goons" had a general dislike for the rest of the internet, and would play internet games with other goons, because they disliked the general population of gamers at the time. Goonfleet stuck out because of how harsh the game was, and how goons when from harrassing people in game, to becoming a serious angry force hell bent on serious stellar conquest. EVE is a game where everyone is a ruthless bastard hell bent on conquest, and people fucked with the goons, they pushed back harder. They kept to themselves and disliked outsiders, and took a dim view on the status quo of the EVE eliete(poopsocking pubbies). Goons made a break for power in 2006 and I am proud to say I was there. Other alliances had players with far more skill points(like level), who where more powerful, but goons had numbers, excellent organization, and teamwork. There was a profound sense of "goon nationalism" in the game that we were out to stake our claim and challenge the status quo. leaders had charisma, and leadership skills, but not as much in game skill points. We bucked the pecking order in favor of our own. We let anyone from Something Awful in, while rejecting the most seasoned non-goon EVE players.
The world hated us, but as goons we reveled in their hatred, and it made us closer, stronger, more determined. We had the numbers and were far far far more ruthless than the worst the game had to offer. EVE is not just played online, its played over instanat message, cell phones, text messages, and even in the real world. When we allied with the Russians, we sent a real life delegation to Russia to visit them in person, and they sent one to NY, to shore up in game ties.
We upset some major long standing alliances who had publicly gone on EVE TV to bash us.(Lokta Voltera, Vertas Imortalis) to bash us and our antics. We went on to terminate them with prejudice.
EVE got serious just about the same time goons were almost at the height of their in game power.
Somewhere around 2005, when the internet started getting really "serious" and pranks and raids started to have legal conotations, site founder, lowtax put a halt to raids and pranks. The sense of community remained. But just a reminder before "Anonymous" was "Leigon", we were "40 thousand screaming goons"
RIP VIle Rat. Here is a speech remedial made on teamspeak before the epic battle of XZH-, of which I was a defender. I recorded this as I listened to.
http://www.favupload.com/audio/6704/
...American right-wing radio and TV clown Glenn Beck...
Now, I'm not commenting on whether he's right or wrong, but this in an accepted summary? Seems a bit much even by Slashdot standards.
"Intelligence has nothing to do with politics!"
-Londo Mollari
Makes sense to me. After all, if you want to send a message to the FBI you use 4chan, therefore it's entirely reasonable that if you want to talk to the CIA, you use Something Awful.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Ask Osama about his experience in international affairs.
Killing Bin Laden was indeed a military and intelligence coup, but in his success he is indebted to others. (He didn't build that, at least not alone.)
To Get Bin Laden, Obama Relied on Policies He Decried - By Michael Barone
The president deserves credit—but so does his predecessor.
Let’s cheerfully and ungrudgingly give credit to Barack Obama for approving the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. . . .
While we may not know all the details about and behind this operation, it’s fascinating to see how many of the things that made the success of this operation possible were not so long ago decried by many of the president’s fans and fellow partisans.
For one thing, it apparently would not have happened without those infamous enhanced interrogation techniques — “torture,” according to critics of the Bush administration.
The enhanced interrogation techniques reportedly led to identification of the courier who eventually led our forces to bin Laden’s hiding place. Critics of waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques assured us that “torture” could not produce reliable information.
They were probably right that sometimes such techniques yield false information. But the bin Laden operation shows that they can also produce actionable intelligence.
You may remember that many Democrats called for criminal prosecution of CIA interrogators who were acting under orders vetted by legal counsel. Attorney General Eric Holder actually considered bringing such prosecutions.
Fortunately, he decided not to do so — fortunately for the individuals involved but fortunately also for his own reputation. Who would want to be known for prosecuting the people who helped track down bin Laden?
It has also been reported that in hunting down bin Laden our forces relied on intercepted communications. I wonder if any of them included contacts between suspected terrorists abroad and persons in the United States.
This was the “domestic wiretapping” revealed to great acclaim by the New York Times and presented as an intolerable infringement of civil liberties. Given what we know now, it’s a good thing our folks were tuning in.
Obama deserves credit also for employing the Navy SEALs, who are part of the Joint Special Operations Command. It was fashionable a few years ago to call the JSOC “Dick Cheney’s death squad” and “Cheney’s assassination team.”
The assumption behind such criticism was that Bush administration officials were using what they termed the war against terrorism as a smokescreen for persecuting domestic dissidents. But there is not a scrap of evidence that either the Bush administration or the Obama administration was doing anything of the kind. They were too busy trying to protect us.
There was criticism as well of the idea of targeting particular individuals for assassination. But, in ordering the raid on bin Laden’s compound, Obama authorized the killing of bin Laden. And no Miranda warnings first.
Smart Diplomacy (a Danish View)
Obama Regretted His ‘Muted’ Early Stance on Iran - By Jim Geraghty - September 25, 2012
This morning, The New York Times offers a lengthy look at President Obama’s relationship with leaders in the Arab world, full of revealing detail. It never quite comes out and explicitly says the president’s approach has failed, but the overall picture is withe
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
An eve online dude can work for the CIA too.
to be fair, pakis have arrested the man who helped us get bin laden... and obama has done NOTHING to help him, and would not even pay him the reward offered for his head whiich was available
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
I'm generally bipartisan, and I don't take any issue with the point you're trying to make here (very clearly the President relied on others to "get" Bin Laden; he didn't infiltrate the hideout himself....).
However, the article you pasted is chock full of weasel words, sarcasm, "quotes", and general contempt. It's difficult - very difficult - to take articles like this seriously; at least for those of us who are what "moderate" used to be. Why don't people ever seem to understand that the facts speak for themselves, and pointing them out without snark is an elegant weapon for a civilized age?
He ripped that off from Adam Curry who said this exact thing two weeks ago on No Agenda
"it's so obvious! is there anything obama isn't responsible for?"
Yup.
The film caused all the unrest.
The economy is still Bush's fault. Either one, Doesn't really matter.
The banks are the Republicans' fault, collectively. They started it, and the whole financial industry precipitated all this.
Housing is a Republican problem too. Along with student loans. Same problem, but that's not at issue here. We are not really too involved in reality, just in avoiding holding our President accountable for a damned thing.
Because, after all, it was like that when he got there. It could be worse. Bush could have left it all for Obama to figure out. Oh,wait...
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Blah blah blah. No president does anything single-handedly. Lincoln didn't tear through the Confederacy like an action hero. FDR didn't paradrop into Nazi Germany. Obama didn't pull the literal trigger on Osama. But it was his decision to refocus efforts on finding OBL, it was his decision to go with troops on the ground rather than an airstrike, it was his decision to keep the Pakistanis out of the loop. All of those turned out to be the right choices, and Obama deserves credit for that.
All you Republicans claiming the credit should go exclusively to the military, ask yourself this: If the mission had ended with a dozen dead SEALs instead of a dead terrorist, would you be placing the blame solely on the military?
What I love most about this argument is those who put it forth typically will not give Obama credit for anything and see all of his acts as a failure (even acts where failure isn't really possible -- "Obama blinks diffrent!!1"). Such a viewpoint is obviously only held by twizzler wrappers, but such is the state of our twizzler wrapper population.
Lincoln didn't tear through the Confederacy like an action hero.
Yea, but to be fair, he did take on all those vampires single-handedly.
Answer yes or no:
Is Reagan responsible for the Iran-Contra scandal?
If "yes", then why are you whining about Democrats blaming him for it?
If "no", then why are blaming Obama for Fast and Furious?
You're complaining about double-standards being applied by liberals while simultaneously using double-standards yourself.
Either the president is responsible for everything that happens in his administration, in which case you had best condemn everyone from Reagan to Roosevelt to Lincoln, or they're not, in which case you have no reason to be condemning Obama.
The second option seems far more sane to me.
In 2003, Republicans controlled the house and the senate, I cannot find evidence for your claim that Democrats blocked regulatory legislation which would have prevented the US housing crash. http://uspolitics.about.com/b/2008/09/18/republican-congress-talked-about-financial-reform-but-did-nothing.htm In fact, given the disdain Republicans have for any form of governmental regulation, I find your claim doubtful
prepare the survey weasels.
It's almost certain VR was an intelligence agent. A large number of those working at foreign embassies are actually CIA officers. Primary function of an Embassy is to collect intelligence in the host country and report it back to US govt agencies. I don't see how he could not be an agent. He is former military, trained in DC/Virginia area, served in Iraq, South Africa, and other places. His mother stated she never knew what he really did, and that if she asked he might joke " i would have to kill you" so she pretty much assumed it was classified and didn't inquire. She didn't even know that he had gone to Libya. So, his work was without question sensitive. Whether Something Awful and EVE online are some type of CIA fronts isn't likely. However, it is possible VR did use the platform for communicating to assets/other intelligence officials. Not for that purpose, but because it's something he already does a lot and enjoys, AND same time does provide excellent cover for occasionally communicating with intelligence assets. I don't see what the outrage is. I guess because it's coming from GB. Who has totally shattered his credibility as he has become an agitator. I didn't even hear what he said, just read about it. Not worth even listening, Years ago, Beck was appeared to be a thoughtful, sensitive, rational pundit. But he sold out to become something just because there is an audience for it. Look at Rush, or that blonde chick author- total jokes. They are just riling up the crowd and pushing something the extreme wants. Same with some liberals, like Olberman who went from ESPN to crying about Bush everyday. These people don't represent american opinion, they just cater to extremes who are a slim minority. Yet it divides our country and dialogue. Nobody wants to discuss intelligent, balanced analysis.
Whether Reagan is responsible for Iran-Contra, and Obama responsible for Fast and Furious, is an open historical question that will probably not be answered for a very long time.
The question in both cases is "What did the president know, when did he know it, and what did he do about it?" And in both cases, we don't know the answer to any of those questions because all the relevant documents are classified.
I am officially gone from
Seriously, Bin Ladin worked for the CIA.
Stupid politicians work for CIA.
CNN has fake reporters making fake stories, YES they got caught, idiots.
Wakeup dumb stupid americans, working for the CIA is nothing special, 100000000000s work for them.
Again, Dumb asses (except the 1% linux users).
Then again, most wouldnt know google was 'funded' a bit by CIA ppl.
Oh my god, our saviour has mirrored 'backups' and Langley.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.