* [EDITOR’S NOTE: The name in the headline is a pun (admittedly, not a very good one), and any resemblance to actual persons is purely coincidence. Also, sheesh, give a guy a break before assuming a name in a random post is their’s. — 01/29/2021]
I was actually kinda with Ted Van Dyk on this one… up until the final few paragraphs:
Beck’s goofy brand of conservatism is harmful to serious public dialogue, but no more so than the various ideological rantings associated with the master of the schtick, Rush Limbaugh, or of their counterparts on the left-hand side.
Typical, wishy-washy, centrist, equivalency bullshit. I mean what counterparts on the left? How many lefty TV/radio personalities have the same sort of audience reach as Beck, let alone Limbaugh, and are there any of consequence who are even remotely as vile? Honestly, even here in liberal Seattle, we now have four conservative talk stations — KVI, KTTH, KKOL and KIRO-FM (and yes, given their lineup, I think it’s fair to characterize KIRO as conservative now) — compared to just KPTK on the progressive side of the spectrum. And of course, since the loss of my show, not a single local liberal talker. Not one.
Their popularity and huge audiences reflect the cynicism of the broadcast groups which sponsor them and the general dumbing down and growing irresponsiblity of media in the United States. A recent Pew survey, as others in recent years by many reputable organizations, underscored the degree to which Americans increasingly distrust and even discount entirely the “news” they see in all media — from daily newspapers to network news broadcasts to cable-news shows to local-level print and electronic media. The same surveys show citizens increasingly turning for information (and thus forming their views) on the basis of what they see and hear from biased sources and from online blogs which often purvey information which is outrightly false.
You mean purveying outrightly false information, like when you repeatedly lie about the cost of light rail, and its margin at the polls? Are you putting Crosscut in that category of “biased sources”…? I’m just wondering.
Those writing for media — for even as moderate and responsible a venue as Crosscut — will attest to the large number of comments and communications received in response to their pieces from readers proceeding from anger, bias, or ignorance. Crosscut’s readership makes it less susceptible to such response than does that of many other sources. A reading of comments made in response to Seattle Times or online P-I stories, for instance, shows a high percentage falling into the angry/biased/ignorant category.
Oh, I see, you’re not putting Crosscut into the same category, because it is a special, magical place where anger, bias and ignorance are as rare and fleeting as your grounding in the facts surrounding transportation issues.
Beck is only a symptom of a far larger general problem in American society. Voters and citizens exposed to half-baked commentary and politically slanted “news” will increasingly be less able to make reasonable, informed decisions about the big issues facing them.
See, I think the issue for Ted here is, “informed” by whom? Van Dyk doesn’t seem to draw a distinction between the vile, racist, hate-mongering of a Glenn Beck and the occasionally hyperbolic, but largely civil rants of a Keith Olbermann. What really seems to bother Van Dyk is that they’re the one’s informing the public, rather than a wise old sage like, you know, himself.
Far be it from me to defend the likes of Beck, by lumping him in with bloggers, citizen journalists and the denizens of comment threads far and wide, Van Dyk displays an obvious disdain for the very same public he claims he’s trying to inform. And you wonder why folks choose to get their news and commentary elsewhere…?
Bring back the Fairness Doctrine! Let’s have a Maoist to answer Glen Beck!
Croak!
Occasionally hyperbolic, largely civil….. hahahahahaha good one
Thanks for illustrating the differences between left and right sources. At least we know the slant of our side. It’s the left’s supposed ‘objective reporting’ that is in denial.
Any more all Olberman, Maddow, Regan do is talk about Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and use words like Tea Bagger. While Limbaugh is just an exercise in how biased media is, and Beck shows how disingenuous the left is.
I don’t know Goldy. Rachel Maddow is pretty vile on the left side of things. Not as many Glenn Beck types on the left, but there are a few.
I’d say I hate those two pretty equally to be honest.
Another big difference between wingnut and leftist journalists, aside from their tone and the relative paucity of leftist voices in broadcast journalism, is that wingnut journalists yank Republican politicians around by the balls. Republican members of Congress take their orders from Limbaugh, Beck, and Hannity. Maddow and Olbermann have no such sway with Democrats. Of course, Democratic politicians, unlike Republicans, are not required to take an ideological loyalty test to stand in good stead with the party.
Beck is indeed a symptom not a problem. The problem being media outlets saying that someone spewing John Britcher nonsense isn’t outside of the mainstream.
Maddow is bitchy and harpy, but their’s no way you can compair what she’s doing to what Beck is doing. Even if they were compairable wouldn’t that make them both wrong?
Maddow also has a Ph.D. She knows what the hell she’s talking about, and she views facts as something that must be accounted for, not as hostile forces to be ignored.
KVI should change their call sign to KVITRIOL.
It’s a truth-in-advertising thing.
Just how is it you’re forced to listen/watch to ANY media outlet against your will?
No lib talkers? When did Dave Ross turn conservative?
Not to mention that there are a few too many people sailing under false colors; I mean, Baucus calling himself a Democrat is the same as Cynical calling himself a Christian.
Real people know better, in both cases.
Ted Van Dyk and Glenn Beck are typical populist BSers.
But Van Dyk is actually worse than Beck, in that he actually BELIEVES most of the crap he pumps out.
When Katie Couric recently asked Glenn Beck what he actually meant by “white culture,” Beck refused an answer repeatedly. You can tell the guy just comes up with this stuff off the top of his head – channeling Beavis & Butthead…with his fingers crossed behind his back…
Van Dyk is a guy who saw and participated in corruption first hand, working as a lobbyist for big corporations and a convicted junk bond king. As such, Van Dyk reflexibly believes everybody else in public service is just as corruptable as he was – a truly populist position.
Maddow is a Rhodes Scholar, thank you very much.
She’s the smartest, most insightful person on TV right now.
I scratch my head about Kent, though.
You hominids don’t even know what the real radical left is–the people as crazy as the radical right. It’s not Bernie Sanders or Rachel Maddow. Chomsky’s pretty radical, but he’s not a bigot and he doesn’t advocate violence they way Beck, Malkin, or Coulter does. The leftist mirrors of those figures are Stalinist, Maoist, Trotskyite, or the various radical splinter groups. These people don’t get air time in the USA–I can’t even call any names to mind. Let’s have some balance in media. Put a Trotskyite on Fox News!
@9 Actually, I think that’s becoming a problem locally. Washington isn’t really a one-party state; we do have a goodly number of Republicans in executive offices, legislatures, and county and city councils these days; they’re just calling themselves “Democrats” for p.r. purposes, that’s all.
I long ago stopped reading editorials in the Times and PI and other similar publications just because of the profound lack of respect they seemed to have for the intellect of their readers. Teddy seems to think that Goldy can trick y’all into believing every word he writes. Not the case, CLEARLY! Just look.
12 Lets hear the tape where Beck and Malkin and Coulter advocate violence. You apparently don’t listen. However, the 2nd Amendment is not about hunting. Just for your knowledge. Idiot.
haha. Are you retarded, Goldy? Don’t answer that as you have every right to plead the 5th amendment against self incrimination.
You must have missed when Little Keithy Slobberman declared in only a fucktard, failed sportscaster, wannabe thespian method voice could muster “Mr. Bush, you are a fascist”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY_1ZlzyW5k
Anyone that would or could listen to Olbermann’s drivel is either uneducated or just plain fucking stupid…Most liberals would fall into one of those two groups which would account for why the CNBC ratings rival late nigh test patterns.
Ignorance really is bliss.
Why? because they don’t have nutjobs like David “my balls still haven’t dropped” Goldstein ; Erin “i’m not a psycho bitch!,I’m really not!” Hart and Mike “geico post facto” Webb ruining their evening and night ratings? Hell, they even had the most popular guy (in terms of ratings) on the station quit (Lou Pate) because that shitty station manager didn’t want a voice on the right outside of Dori Monson on KIRO 710.
KIRO is a business and can’t cater to the fringe nut job left 24/7 like the Seattle Times and P-I (RIP) did, and you see where it got those papers in terms of circulation.
Simply put, Goldy, Groupthink is out of style. Seattle is mecca of such thinking and despite your protests, Little ABBA lovin, dancin’ and prancin’ davey ross still spews his milquetoast lefty drivel for 3 hours a day on KIRO 97.3fm which I will normally tune into just to see how batshit crazy the man is with his equivocations. Needless to say, I’m rarely disappointed.
Beck has PERSONALLY expressed the desire to hire someone to kill Michael Moore. You can use the Google?
He has also advocated the use of nuclear weapons.
Both Malkin & Coulter have advocated the violent use of government power. As a conservative, aren’t you opposed to that, Mark? Or it is not violent when the government does it?
Coulter on Bill Keller, executive editor of the NYT, for publishing stories about warrantless wiretaps: “I prefer a firing squad […]” ***
Malkin wrote an entire book advocating mass government violence: the internment of Muslims, and defending the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Coulter has advocated the execution of newspaper editors for–get this now–reporting on the abuse of government surveillance powers. Malkin has advocated mass internment of citizens who have committed no crimes.
Croak!
Oh for those civil days of yesteryear (summer 2001) when the late great Mike Webb was doing the slam and diss on “Jemima Rice.” Those were the days. And lefty little Mercer Island elitist Dave Ross just rolled with it.
Good times. Not a bit like slime-meister Glenn Beck talking trash, saying that a corporation that’s too big to fail is too big, or that it might be time to pull the plug on Obama’s Afghanistan if Obama isn’t going to take his c-in-c responsibilites seriously.
If only we could have real civility Americans like Webb or Hart or Madcow or Odormann or Tingle all the time. It’s really way past time for the left to take over AM radio like we’ve taken over everything else. Time to put Beck and Parshall and Malkin out of their misery and out of ours.
Total misrepresentation of Malkin’s book on internment, and a misrepresentation that deflects attention away from where it belongs: The internment of American citizens was a progressive project effected by executive order from a Democrat Chief Executive.
(Footnote: The fanatic fascist liberal left will surely be surprised to learn that FDR’s abrogation of the rights of American citizens was resisted by conservative J. Edgar Hoover.)
Oh, wait. That’s the other one.
Goldy’s sick fatal attraction to old Ted (the one who’s not dead yet … that’s why Goldy just keeps hitting and hitting on him) sort of makes us social conservatives nostalgic for Goldy’s previous infatuation with Suzie Hutchison.
Referred thoughtful readers to Benjamin Schwartz’ comments in The Atlantic about Clinton’s genocidal war on Christian Serb civilians. Failed to mention that it’s the issue of The Atlantic with Michaelangelo’s David Goldstein on the cover.
He appears to have dropped, but leftist appearances are always deceitful and deceiving.
So I took the SJ challenge. Went to google, whatever that is, and found Glenn Beck threatening the life of Michael Moore.
Was somewhat ambivalent about Beck, since he’s never talked about stomping rabbits, but this Moore thing makes up for everything. Beck is the bee’s knees and the cat’s pajamas. He’s totally won me over. Thanks, SJ.