Glenn Beck and Justice. Glenn Beck supporters gather for his "Restoring Honor" rally on the National Mall on August 28, 2010.
Photo courtesy of FlickrCC/theqspeaks. As one who has been vilified by Fox News commentator Glenn Beck, I had to tune in Saturday and listen to his speech in Washington, D.C. (almost as one who cannot help but to look at a car accident as they drive by on the freeway). During his “revival,” Beck gave his usual banter regarding the beauties of Capitalism and runaway consumerism, the dangers of anything with the word “social” in it, and how we should fear the coming financial apocalypse by “battening down the hatches” and “get everything you can while the getting’s good.” However, it was not his usual verbosity that gave me pause — that caused me to be in “shock and awe,” if you will. We are the people of the civil rights movement. Equal justice? Beck’s problem is that he remembers and recites a national history that never existed. I would encourage Mr. Kids Learn That Killing Is Fun at the Army's Lethal New Theme Park.
December 18, 2008 | Like this article?
Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. The Army Experience Center, located in the Franklin Mills Mall just north of Philadelphia, bills itself as a "state-of-the-art educational facility that uses interactive simulations and online learning programs to educate visitors about the many careers, training and educational opportunities available in the Army. " Nonsense. "Too slow! But I didn't come here to get yelled at or to play games. "Potential recruits are afforded a unique opportunity to learn what it means to be the best-led, best-trained and best-equipped Army in the world by allowing them to virtually experience multiple aspects of the Army," says Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army.
Sir, give me a break, sir! "Accurate information about the military experience is often drowned out, or the information that does get through projects mixed messages or inaccuracies," Lt. LRB · Eliot Weinberger: What I Heard about Iraq. In 1992, a year after the first Gulf War, I heard Dick Cheney, then secretary of defense, say that the US had been wise not to invade Baghdad and get ‘bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq’.
I heard him say: ‘The question in my mind is how many additional American casualties is Saddam worth? And the answer is: not that damned many.’ In February 2001, I heard Colin Powell say that Saddam Hussein ‘has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbours.’ That same month, I heard that a CIA report stated: ‘We do not have any direct evidence that Iraq has used the period since Desert Fox to reconstitute its weapons of mass destruction programmes.’
In July 2001, I heard Condoleezza Rice say: ‘We are able to keep his arms from him. On 11 September 2001, six hours after the attacks, I heard that Donald Rumsfeld said that it might be an opportunity to ‘hit’ Iraq. Fair and Balanced, My Ass! The Bizarre Reality of Fox News. June 20, 2007 | Like this article?
Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. The following is an excerpt from Fair and Balanced, My Ass! : An Unbridled Look at the Bizarre Reality of Fox News , by Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer (Nation Books, 2007). Well, that's your opinion! Those of us who watch Fox News professionally, or simply to unwind at the end of the day with a few well-earned belly laughs, dismiss the network at our own peril. While there may be a considerable measure of Schadenfreude involved in tuning in to, say, The O'Reilly Factor , it's hard to overlook the fact that he influences millions of people nearly every day. Now, preaching to the choir can be quite lucrative, particularly if the choir has an almost unlimited budget for Rascal Scooters and Civil War chess pieces.
But most people who are engaged in some form of advocacy journalism -- be they Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken -- have the decency to admit it. MALKIN: Yeah, that's right ...