Glenn Beck and William Kristol are like the masks of tragedy and comedy connected to one-watt bulbs. Beck is the crying one, Kristol the smiling one. They both stake out extreme positions on the political right, but distinguish themselves from the angry commentators by using tears and joy. To distinguish themselves from each other, Glenn Beck goes for the broad, middle audience and William Kristol aims for the top.
There are two kinds of people who follow Glenn Beck: those who believe him and those who agree with him. What can you say about people who actually believe what Beck says except that he doesn’t include himself among them? He can’t. Glenn Beck couldn’t believe what he says and still find his way to the studio every morning. Yet, there are people who uncritically accept what he says as truth - and I’m happy for them. It’s probably a rare moment of validation in their lives. I suspect that the bulk of his viewers (or listeners) are those who agree with him. They know he’s exaggerating, but they don’t care because they share his politics. These people want validation, too, but the emotional kind and Glenn is glad to provide it. He’s also glad to exploit it. Beck is the kind of rich Republican who convinces the middle class to vote against their economic interest by appealing to their emotions. If he’s a demagogue, he’s a small one. A demi-demagogue. In music, the’d call him a hemidemisemigogue.
William Kristol smiles when he’s on TV. Maybe he’s glad to be there, but he smiles all the time, regardless of what he says or what someone says to him. He’s like a singing telegram only not as deep. That’s because he’s a political Pangloss. He thought the Bush administration was “The best of all possible worlds” and that everything they did “Happened for the best of all possible reasons.” What’s more, he still does. I’ve never read his magazine, The Weekly Standard, but I read his columns when he wrote for The New York Times and I’ve seen him on TV. His support for conservative candidates and agendas is so consistent that he makes a blanket endorsement look discriminating. I’d say he’s a cheerleader for the right, but their cheerleaders become President. He’s more like their little drummer boy.
Why are these two dim bulbs getting so much attention? Because no one is outshining them. Rush Limbaugh? Newt Gingrich?? Sarah Palin??? Dan Quayle can’t be far behind.
They're both disingenuous. In the same sentence, Beck called Obama a racist, said he didn't believe Obama was a racist, but believes that Obama hates white people. Kristol, meanwhile engaged in a battle of wits with Jon Stewart this week but was completely unarmed. He considers Sarah Palin a bright light, which further dims his bulb. No bigger advocate of free speech than I, but Beck staddles the line with incendiary remarks--between his bouts of hysterical crying--that could provoke his less-than-deep-thinking followers into dangerous behavior. It's tragic that these guys are what passes for political discourse nowadays.
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