Glenn Beck Got This One Wrong


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Glenn Beck Got This One Wrong

Here I am reading Salty Droid after a long time and I start looking at this article: The Trillion Dollar Trial of the Millennium.

You don't have to read it, though, unless you like Salty. (I happen to like him, although I think he goes way too far sometimes in Internet marketing guru-bashing.)

Basically the article is about a crazy blogger who is suing about something or the other called iViewit along with another crazy. What caught my eye, though, was when the article mentioned high-powered attorney Marc Randazza.

Salty mentioned some of Randazza's high-profile cases, including one of the latest, defending the blogger who prompted the Steubenville rape trial where two high-school football players were convicted of raping a 16 year old girl who was drunk and passed out. (See it here if you can stomach Amy Goodman, the Progressive's Progressive.)

But then Salty mentioned Randazza stuck it to Glenn Beck.

Whaaaaat???

Well, I looked into it and he did.

What's worse, Glenn got his ass handed to him on a platter and he deserved it.

I know Glenn is human and I have seen him say some things I have disagreed with, hell, I have seen him step in it, but this is by far the worst. It's not enough for me to lose my fondness of him and admiration for his achievements, but there is a small crack now in how I view his integrity. Here is a Wikipedia article that documents the whole sorry affair:

Beck v. Eiland-Hall

I cannot believe Glenn tried to shut down free speech when he was the butt of a parody, not by suing in the USA where he knew he would lose, but at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) in Switzerland where he did not have to deal with the First Amendment.

When Glenn fucks up, he does it in grand style. What on earth was he thinking? Isn't he the one who preaches the superiority of the American system of government precisely because of the Constitution and Bill of Rights? So what the hell was he trying to do by circumventing them?

Get preferential treatment with power over another under the law, that's what. And that makes me mad.

There is icing to the cake, which is Glenn's attempt to take away Eiland-Hall's domain name (GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com) where the guy posted the parody. That's the cake. Here's the icing. After Glenn lost big-time, the guy sent him the domain name and signed it over to him as a present, saying he didn't need it anymore.

And it gets worse. Randazza requested in the lawsuit that WIPO use the USA's First Amendment as a legal standard since it was one American suing another, cutting right into the hypocrisy.

As far as I am concerned, this case shows you that even a loud proponent of free speech will abuse power if he thinks he can get away with it. I am disappointed.

Dayaamm!

Read the Wikipedia article if you want to know the details. They're ugly, so you folks who do not understand my enchantment with Glenn and do not like him go ahead and have a field day. Believe me, you will be entitled to it because Glenn has earned it in this case--every last bit.

I prefer to post a video of someone I just came to admire a lot, Marc Randazza.

I don't like lawyers as a rule, but this is a lawyer I would be proud to know.

btw - Did you notice the "Rand" in his name?

Michael

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This made me cringe. Not because I particularly like Glenn Beck (I'm rather indifferent toward him), but for the reason that anyone and everyone who hates Beck will use this to bolster their case against him (even if their use is fallacious). Right now, I imagine them grinning maliciously, wringing their hands together, at the thought of ad hominining Beck to hell.

Michael, I can understand your admiration for him. I, too, recognize his value in the fight for freedom. This is the reason why I can't stand the thought of those mongrels using this against him in the attempt to dismiss him completely.

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MSK,

A good article.

You know I am, admittedly, not the most charitable to Beck. But this comment isn't about Beck - rather it is a comment about you.

You have never been uncritical in your admiration for Beck. You've always done your best to be fair about his pros and cons. When he makes a mistake you have always acknowledged it.

This intellectual honesty is something I wish to applaud.

I know you loathe the guru mentality, and I do as well. Far too often, people who are blinded by the light of a beautiful idea end up uncritically worshipping the lightbringer. And you may be a fan of Beck, but posts like these (as well as your history of nuanced assessments of him) show that you are devoid of the guru mentality.

Your integrity and honesty are admirable.

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Kyle,

This case is from 2009, so it seems Glenn weathered it pretty well. I'm just a bit irritated at myself for not knowing about it until now.

And I'm irritated at Glenn because I haven't seen anything showing he owns up to the error. I could understand him getting pissed and overreacting, but I don't understand him not saying, "Oops. Sorry." Glenn usually does that when he steps in it (like when he said he didn't think Obama liked white people, then apoloigized and latched onto D'Souza's anti-colonialism theory as more in line with what he was thinking--which I believe since I am 100% sure he is not a racist). So maybe I just haven't looked hard enough for it. I'll keep looking for a while, but I admit, as it stands, I am disappointed in him.

Andrew,

Thanks, bro...

:)

Michael

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Can anyone give a reason for taking Glenn Beck seriously. I just don't see it.

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Can anyone give a reason for taking Glenn Beck seriously. I just don't see it.

Because in Michaels parlance, he tells a story with every broadcast and has the gift of getting people to listen to him. How seriously we take the story depends, of course, on our own inner stories.

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Carol

That's only partially right.

There are at least three other main reasons (actually a lot more, but three is fine for right now):

1. Glenn has a hugely accurate track record of predicting social-political trends. There are countless examples of the following pattern:

- Glenn connects some dots and starts talking about something like ACORN or the Caliphate or whatever.

- People left and right go berzerk mocking him, calling him a nutcase, a conspiracy theorist, etc. etc. etc.

- Events start coming to light showing Glenn was accurate.

- Glenn's formerly mocked phrases become mainstream topics of discussion, although he is never sourced as having originated the discussion in the mainstream.

- The cycle repeats with another issue.

Some day it might be fun to do a montage of people who mocked him side-by-side their later discussions of the same issues.

And, as his growing network TheBlaze shows, people are hungry for something other than to be subjects of blatant spin and social engineering when they turn on the news. They seek to understand the world around them when they seek mainstream information, and they can feel the manipulation. They turn to Glenn as a reaction. Take a look at media credibility statistics sometime. You could make a good case that Glenn has far more credibility with his ever-growing public for his predictions and big-picture thinking alone than most news shows do with their own dwindling audiences for simply presenting the news.

2. Glenn encourages you to do your own research and not believe him. Not many people in the mainstream have the balls to do that as a constant policy.

3. Glenn's business model is revolutionizing broadcast media. So he is an entrepreneur whose business values and methods are well-worth studying.

If you want to read something funny, read this Progressive journalist choking on her words with the subtext of "how could this have happened?" in an article reporting on TheBlaze winning the Tribeca Film Festival's Charles Darwin Prize for being one of the most disruptive innovations. (They mean "disruptive" in an evolutionary sense and as a tonic for stagnation, not as a bad thing.)

Glenn Beck’s The Blaze to Receive the Charles Darwin Prize

By: Sarah Jones

April 4th, 2013

PoliticusUSA

Glenn's not supposed to receive real prestigious awards in the real world for real achievement. He's supposed to be a guns and Bible dimwitted yahoo. Yet there it is. And Ms. Jones chokes and sputters between snarks.

:smile:

There's actually another reason, but it is not so much Glenn's doing. I lived over 30 years in a highly manipulated environment in Brazil and under a real dictatorship. So I know the signs from experience, albeit I have learned a crap-load more since I started my targeted studies a few short years ago.

I see similar manipulations all around me here in the USA and Glenn is one of the few I see talking about them in a more-or-less objective way. Sometimes he goes further out than I agree with, and he is openly centered around Christianity, so he tends to ignore the more subtle manipulation coming from that culture, but he is not in the same league with outright conspiracy people.

His stuff has teeth and his work has resulted in people like Van Jones losing their jobs as Presidential advisors, or the nationwide ACORN organization being dismantled.

But, yes, he does the narrative thing really, really well. And I admire that in any celebrity.

Michael

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Carol

That's only partially right.

There are at least three other main reasons (actually a lot more, but three is fine for right now):

1. Glenn has a hugely accurate track record of predicting social-political trends. There are countless examples of the following pattern:

- Glenn connects some dots and starts talking about something like ACORN or the Caliphate or whatever.

- People left and right go berzerk mocking him, calling him a nutcase, a conspiracy theorist, etc. etc. etc.

- Events start coming to light showing Glenn was accurate.

- Glenn's formerly mocked phrases become mainstream topics of discussion, although he is never sourced as having originated the discussion in the mainstream.

- The cycle repeats with another issue.

Some day it might be fun to do a montage of people who mocked him side-by-side their later discussions of the same issues.

And, as his growing network TheBlaze shows, people are hungry for something other than to be subjects of blatant spin and social engineering when they turn on the news. They seek to understand the world around them when they seek mainstream information, and they can feel the manipulation. They turn to Glenn as a reaction. Take a look at media credibility statistics sometime. You could make a good case that Glenn has far more credibility with his ever-growing public for his predictions and big-picture thinking alone than most news shows do with their own dwindling audiences for simply presenting the news.

2. Glenn encourages you to do your own research and not believe him. Not many people in the mainstream have the balls to do that as a constant policy.

3. Glenn's business model is revolutionizing broadcast media. So he is an entrepreneur whose business values and methods are well-worth studying.

If you want to read something funny, read this Progressive journalist choking on her words with the subtext of "how could this have happened?" in an article reporting on TheBlaze winning the Tribeca Film Festival's Charles Darwin Prize for being one of the most disruptive innovations. (They mean "disruptive" in an evolutionary sense and as a tonic for stagnation, not as a bad thing.)

Glenn Beck’s The Blaze to Receive the Charles Darwin Prize

By: Sarah Jones

April 4th, 2013

PoliticusUSA

Glenn's not supposed to receive real prestigious awards in the real world for real achievement. He's supposed to be a guns and Bible dimwitted yahoo. Yet there it is. And Ms. Jones chokes and sputters between snarks.

:smile:

There's actually another reason, but it is not so much Glenn's doing. I lived over 30 years in a highly manipulated environment in Brazil and under a real dictatorship. So I know the signs from experience, albeit I have learned a crap-load more since I started my targeted studies a few short years ago.

I see similar manipulations all around me here in the USA and Glenn is one of the few I see talking about them in a more-or-less objective way. Sometimes he goes further out than I agree with, and he is openly centered around Christianity, so he tends to ignore the more subtle manipulation coming from that culture, but he is not in the same league with outright conspiracy people.

His stuff has teeth and his work has resulted in people like Van Jones losing their jobs as Presidential advisors, or the nationwide ACORN organization being dismantled.

But, yes, he does the narrative thing really, really well. And I admire that in any celebrity.

Michael

Well said, I would only add that Beck and his crew did not start out doing serious news, They were regular radio types doing comedy/social commentary but as it became ever increasingly apparent that the news media was entirely failing in their primary tasks Beck saw the opportunity to fill that Grand Canyon sized void.

Beck has already broken more hard news and educated the more of the public on important political facts in the last few years than all of the Progressive hard news media combined. As Michael said there is a reason the old news media doesn't have the numbers any more - they don't do their job anymore. They are just part of the socialist political machine.

I also have issues with some things Beck says or does but no more than most people in this forum and much less than people generally.

Dennis

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Glenn Beck does not "get people to listen to him." He motivates the people who choose to listen to him (already) to take the actions he wants. Liberals and progressives do not listen to Glenn Beck. Politically apathetic people do not watch his shows. I have seen it twice or thrice on recommendations from MSK, but find Beck a transparent demagogue, whose loyal mob consists of people who want to believe him and believe in him.

Admittedly, it is clear that MSK, and perhaps very many others, maintains some objectivity.

To offer just one case in point, Glenn Beck did not take down ACORN. Beck was one of many conservatives who finally had a council of war and took out that gang. The scam of getting ACORN employees to advise on setting up a brothel with illegal immigrants was the stake through their heart. The rest of it was just scattering their ashes. Even the left was distanced by that and support evaporated.

However, it is an example of collectivist psycho-epistemology - also called "muscle mystic" - to think that dismantling the organization disempowered the people who were in it. They just found other places to be that welcomed them, their skills, and their labor.

As long as enough people in general still give respect to "social workers" and "community activists" and "political volunteers" the people who were in ACORN will commit harms in other social spheres, such as halfway houses, shelters, and citizen committees. The same is true of clergy. Religion still gets respect. I have worked with Adventists and Jews who cannot work past 5:00 PM on Friday night because the sun went down. Really? What's that go to do with the shipping schedule? So, too, with ACORN and Glenn Beck. Their power comes from the ignorance of others.

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Michael, look up the Charles Darwin award. It is not prestigious.

Carol,

You mean this: Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards?

From the site:

Based on the studies of Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen and helmed by Tribeca’s Craig Hatkoff, The Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards (TDIA) celebrates those whose ideas have broken the mold to create significant impact. Christensen’s original Disruptive Innovation Theory explained how simpler, cheaper technologies, products, and services could decimate industry leaders. TDIA showcases applications of disruptive innovation which has spread far beyond the original technological and industrial realms into the fields of healthcare, education, international development, politics and advocacy, media, the arts and entertainment.

The Charles Darwin Award Beck won seems to be just one category of this and is presented by The Economist. On the site, it says that all honorees will receive an award named in honor of Maslow:

Honorees listed below will receive Awards known as Maslow’s Silver Hammers, in honor of psychologist Abe Maslow, who created the famous hierarchy of human needs.

Here is the list of this year's honorees: Class of 2013.

Go on. Click on it. Then you will see the reason for Jones's sputtering disbelief.

Among the honorees are Twyla Tharp (dance), City of Manchester (for urban innovation), Garrett Camp (founder of StumbleUpon), Forbes Magazine, The African Robotics Network, Deborah Kenny (Harlem Village Academies), Urban Dictionary, Psy (Gangnam Style dance) and several others in a wide range of fields.

May I suggest you look before you leap? And I mean that both metaphorically and literally. I would not want you to receive one of those different kinds of Darwin Awards, where you are honored for improving mankind's gene pool by removing yourself from it.

Michael

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Michael, look up the Charles Darwin award. It is not prestigious.

Carol,

You mean this: Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards?

From the site:

>Based on the studies of Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen and helmed by Tribeca’s Craig Hatkoff, The Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards (TDIA) celebrates those whose ideas have broken the mold to create significant impact. Christensen’s original Disruptive Innovation Theory explained how simpler, cheaper technologies, products, and services could decimate industry leaders. TDIA showcases applications of disruptive innovation which has spread far beyond the original technological and industrial realms into the fields of healthcare, education, international development, politics and advocacy, media, the arts and entertainment.

The Charles Darwin Award Beck won seems to be just one category of this and is presented by The Economist. On the site, it says that all honorees will receive an award named in honor of Maslow:

Honorees listed below will receive Awards known as Maslow’s Silver Hammers, in honor of psychologist Abe Maslow, who created the famous hierarchy of human needs.

Here is the list of this year's honorees: Class of 2013.

Go on. Click on it. Then you will see the reason for Jones's sputtering disbelief.

Among the honorees are Twyla Tharp (dance), City of Manchester (for urban innovation), Garrett Camp (founder of StumbleUpon), Forbes Magazine, The African Robotics Network, Deborah Kenny (Harlem Village Academies), Urban Dictionary, Psy (Gangnam Style dance) and several others in a wide range of fields.

May I suggest you look before you leap? And I mean that both metaphorically and literally. I would not want you to receive one of those different kinds of Darwin Awards, where you are honored for improving mankind's gene pool by removing yourself from it.

Michael

I did look, at Wiki anyway, which says that these awards are "tongue-in-cheek", but there are a lot of Darwin prizes and maybe I got the name wrong. Even if not, innovation is not always prestigious so I will stick to my guns for now.

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Carol.

I assure you this prize is not tongue in cheek.

Be careful, the bias in your core narrative is blinding you to something quite obvious. (And I realize how being obviously wrong stings. Nobody likes that. I don't either when I mess up.)

Here is The Darwin Awards you speak of (and the Wikipedia article you mentioned).

There are even comedy books put out under this name, all by Wendy Northcutt: See here for the Amazon search: The Darwin Awards Amazon search.

None of this has anything to do with the award Glenn just won. Here is information on the Tribeca Film Festival, the organization giving out the prizes, if you are interested.

May I suggest reading a bit to get the facts straight before giving warnings?

:)

Michael

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