Glenn Beck's Demagoguery, Right Wing Extremism, and Racism

Glenn Beck's Demagoguery, Right Wing Extremism, and Racism - by Stephen Lendman

At a time of 24-hour news and a proliferation of television and radio talk shows featuring hatemongers and demagogues like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck may stand out as the most unhinged and extremist of all as evidenced by his jihad against anyone to the left of his views, disadvantaged minorities, Muslims, Latino immigrants, and progressive change in some of his most outlandish comments, including:

-- calling Barack Obama a "racist (who) has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture; I don't know what it is....This guy is, I believe, a racist;"

-- calling Van Jones "an avowed, radical, revolutionary communist," then saying "Jones is the tip of the iceberg" as part of his over-the-top campaign against anyone less extremist than himself;

-- stating "The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be President would be 'What the hell do you mean we're out of missiles;' "

-- saying "We need to be the first ones in the recruitment office lining up to shoot the bad Muslims in the head....In 10 years, Muslims and Arabs will be looking through a razor wire fence at the West;"

-- telling Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison to "prove to me that you are not working with our enemies;"

-- advocating disposing of Guantanamo detainees by shooting them in the head;

-- accusing Al Gore of creating a new "Hitler youth" by promoting environmental awareness, and called for kicking California out of the union;

-- in 2003, telling listeners he was praying for a gruesome death for Democrat presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, and in 2005 saying he fantasized about strangling filmmaker Michael Moore;

-- characterizing Obama's new regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, as a crazed animal rights activist who believes that rats matter more than people; and

-- in September 2005, expressing open "hate" toward Katrina victims, calling them "scumbags" for not waiting patiently for emergency aid at a time their lives were devastated, and the Bush administration was forcibly removing them to distant locations, then preventing them from returning so predatory developers could exploit their neighborhoods for profit.

In May 2008, a Media Matters Action Network report titled, "Fear & Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration Myths and Cable News" highlighted undocumented Latino immigrant hatemongering by Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck, each making outlandish claims, including:

-- an alleged connection between undocumented Latinos and crime;

-- how they exploit social services and don't pay taxes;

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