At least Howie Kurtz (who I actually have respect for, he normally will point out the hypocrisy of the left)stood up to this small-minded and stupid man. The reality is the left doesn't know what do with a mobilized right. The attacks are going to get bigger and come more often because we have become a mobilized force. I have a friend who was appearing on Fox News while Beck was in the studio. That man travels surrounded by security, why exactly is that? If he is the "terrorist" why would he need the security. Look at the tape of the rally on Saturday. Every time he moved around the stage, at least two different men in black suits moved with him. I don't think anyone on the right is threatening his life.
In the past you could always get the right to show up for a pro life rally and you had a good shot at getting a good number for gun rights. But, not for a whole lot else. We just didn't show up in the streets with signs. Beck is part of that change. Although, he is not the "founder" of the tea party movement. Many on the left don't realize it was Rick Santelli of CNBC that started that. Beck just saw the "tea" leaves and found a way to take that energy that was forming. All he did was tell us we were not alone, we did the rest.
Monday, August 30, 2010
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10 comments:
Usually I agree with Bill Press, but his Al Qaeda analogy was off the mark. Because I rarely see it, I think it would be nice if conservatives would call out their own when they make similar analogies (for example, comments made by Newt Gingrich in regards to the Park 51 project).
As for Beck, I think he saw the dollar signs and realized he could get richer by hopping on the Tea Party bandwagon. He's admitted that he doesn't care about the political process so that shows he is nothing but an opportunist.
Malcolm:
You then don't really pay attention to the right, because many did call out Gringrich, saying he went to far.
Also, no one is saying that mosque doesn't have the right to be built, they are questioning the taste level of it. They don't seem to care that people are against it.
They don't want to answer questions of where the money is coming from. A man who was a waiter all of sudden has $5 million to buy that building? Those questions need to be answered.
Beck has more money than he can spend in his lifetime, he doesn't need anymore. So your theory doesn't make sense. He was getting paid a very good salary at Fox from the jump. He didn't need to go that route the money was already going to be there. His radio show is #3 in the country, like Rush he owns the company that produces the show, so that is his money.
Just maybe, he has convictions. You know every once in a while people do. But, the left will never give credit to someone on the right.
I don't agree with Pelosi, but she has convictions. I don't doubt that. Maybe you should try the same.
The only conservative I heard call out Gingrich for his comments was Joe Scarborough. I didn't see any of the other conservative pundits or bloggers follow suit. Since you say there were many who did, can you provide names and (if possible) links?
Although there are some people opposed to the Park 51 project with legitimate concerns, some of the opposition is based on Islamophobia pure and simple. For some, building the Islamic community center 200 blocks away from Ground Zero wouldn't be good enough... they don't want it built period.
As for what I said about Beck's motives for hopping on the Tea Party bandwagon, you completely missed my point. The key word I used was "richer". It should go without saying that his Fox salary was there as you said. What I was referring to was money he has made in addition to that via book sales, personal appearances, Beck U, etc.
Your blanket statement about the left never giving credit to the right is patently false. If someone deserves credit, I'll give it to them. I couldn't care less about their political viewpoint. There are others like me on the left, just as there are those on the right who play fair as well.
I'm willing to give Glenn Beck the benefit of the doubt. However, he hasn't earned it so far. Time and again, he has resorted to vitriol, race baiting, fearmongering, and flat out dishonesty to push his agenda.
When you have time, I hope you can check out the link below and answering two questions:
1. Was Beck being dishonest in his presentation of what Obama said in 1995?
2. Was Beck guilty of race baiting?
http://diversityink.blogspot.com/2010/06/glenn-beck-plays-race-card-from-bottom.html
Malcom:
I will give you that people are afraid of that Mosque. But I think what they are afraid of is terrorism not Islam. You never heard those type of things until after 9/11. There are some that will/can not separate the two.
You must be new to my blog, I stuck up for the right to build that mosque. Not because I agree, because I don't. But, they have every legal right to do so. I also think where that money is coming from is an important question that must be answered.
I will check out your links tomorrow when I have time to really read them.
I am not denying that Beck is provactive. He most certainly is.
One of the problems you are going to have convicing people on the right is the frequency of which we are being accused of racism. Simply not liking Obama's policies makes you a racist, but that is what it has devulged into of late. There is real danger to over using the race card - the real instances get ignored. I have never been called a racist as much as I have been since he has taken office. No one had any reason to call me one. I have people in life of many different colors and religions. I don't know how I can be a racist simply because I don't like Obama. It is stupid, yet people will not let it go. Real victims are going to get hurt because of it. That is the real shame of what the left is doing by throwing that around so easily.
The problem is that some equate Islam with terrorism and that isn't fair. I give credit to George W. Bush for a speech in the days following 9/11 in which he made it clear that Islam was a religion of peace. Unfortunately, many people have forgotten that speech.
No, I'm not new to your blog. I've debated with you here and at The Conservative Lady's blog. In case I wasn't clear, I'm not accusing you of Islamophobia.
Anyone who says that opposition to Obama automatically equals racism is being intellectually lazy. On the other hand, people are kidding themselves if they don't think racism plays a role in why some oppose the President. In addition to race being a factor in some instances, I think a lot of the opposition is simply because Obama is a Democrat.
One thing you and I can agree on is the overuse of the race card. However, we disagree on one point because I see the right playing it just as much as the left. Here are a few examples:
1. Glenn Beck calling President Obama a racist.
2. The right wanting Harry Reid fired for the "Negro dialect" comment he made about then candidate Obama
3. Rep. Steve King accusing President Obama of favoring black people by default.
4. The Shirley Sherrod incident
I can keep going, but I think you get the point. Do you think the above incidents were cases of the right unfairly playing the race card? If not, have you ever seen an incident of someone on the right unfairly playing the race card?
Thanks for commenting on the post I linked to yesterday. In addition to that post, feel free to comment on other ones at Diversity Ink because I welcome viewpoints regardless of whether or not they are in line with mine.
Ok, I am going to have to take you to task on two of these.
Harry Reid should have resigned over his comment, because had a republican said they would have had to. You cannot deny that, look what happened after Strum's birthday. That was an innocent comment to make an old man feel good on his birthday. Nothing more. Everybody threw him under the bus immediately. It wasn't right. I include President Bush in that.
2. Sherrod did herself no favors when she kept on talking. My gosh she said that Obama is not a black man. She said that Brietbart wants to return to slavery. He didn't fire her, her boss did. The NAACP threw her under the bus immediately as well. I am sorry the more I heard that woman talk, the more I realized that she has issues with race. You cannot convince me otherwise. And if you don't think that bloggers on the right didn't apologize (many like me retracted that apology) than you are not being fair.
You also are not putting one very important layer into the Beck incident, he was immediately called on it by the interviewers on Fox. I watched it live, so I know that happened. He also has apologized. Again, I don't think Obama is a racist, but I do think that he has issues with race. You couldn't sit in that church for 20 years and not feel that way.
I also don't think that anyone is saying that racism doesn't exist in this country. It does.
As far as Islam goes, I don't think they have forgotten that speech, they don't believe it. The Koran is very clear on killing infidels. The polls taken in Muslim countries still clearly show that they approve of suicide bombers, and like it or not; some of those live here.
I agree that we cannot simply lump all Muslims together, the problem is that they don't speak out against terrorism loudly enough.
Islam is not welcoming to western culture. I don't get why they want to come here. We are not going to start stoning people and cutting off hands of thiefs. That is a basic part of their thought process. It scares people when we hear them talk about Sharia compliant laws to the US. I don't just say no, I say HELL NO. If that is what you want, go back to the desert or wherever you came from. Not trying to be mean, but not having it here. This is our culture and our laws. Live with it or leave. That isn't racism or intolerance. It is survival of the American way. We have a constitution, they accept that or don't come.
Sorry, but the Harry Reid/Trent Lott comparison is weak. Lott's remarks seemed to validate Strom Thurmond's stance on segregation. Although Thurmond's views on race changed (including support of the extension of The Voting Rights Act and being the first Southern senator to appoint a black aide), Lott never made the distinction between Thurmond circa 1948 and Thurmond post-1964.
As for Shirley Sherrod, some of the comments she made in the aftermath were over the top (Brietbart wants to return to slavery for example). However, it was Breitbart's playing of the race card that started this whole mess. Please do not assume I am saying that conservative bloggers didn't apologize for jumping the gun on this story. I read your retraction when you first wrote it as well as others.
As for Beck, whether or not he was immediately called on it is irrelevant because that doesn't change the fact that he was race baiting. Also, the only person on "Fox and Friends" who called him on his "Obama is a racist" comments when he said them was Brian Kilmeade (who I gave credit to when I wrote about it last year). I do agree with at least one thing Glenn Beck has said about himself: He does have a big, fat mouth!
By the way, I responded to your comments on Diversity Ink. I look forward to hearing your reply/answers to the questions I posed.
Malcom:
Please, Lott was not saying that he wanted a segregatist as President. Any thinking person knows that. There is no evidence whatsoever that Lott is a racist, but he got branded one because he made a comment about Strum. He was trying to be nice to an old and sick man on his birthday. You know that.
This is the point that I a making. If we stop putting every comment into the prism of race we will be so much better off.
We'll have to agree to disagree on your comparison of Harry Reid to Trent Lott. Although I feel what Lott said was worse, I won't go so far as to say he should have resigned. That's because there was some gray area in his comments and his explanation was plausible.
Your rationale for why Harry Reid should have resigned comes off as nothing more than tit for tat. Wanting someone to resign because you think or know a Republican would have had to is not a good enough reason. Either something is right or it's wrong. The perpetrator's party affiliation shouldn't have anything to do with it.
By the way, my name has two Ls (Malcolm, just like my namesake... Malcolm X). Thank you.
JACG: I'd like to run something by you. Shoot me an email at ultfan@gmail.com and I will respond with the details.
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