The reckless, violent disregard of Glenn Beck and the right-wing media
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The reckless, violent disregard of Glenn Beck and the right-wing media
I've written here several times recently about the wanton recklessness of right-wing radio and TV hosts -- particularly Glenn Beck but also nationally syndicated conspiracy-monger Alex Jones and others -- in spewing out conspiracy theories to keep listeners engaged for fun and profit, with no regard for how their words might impact the most unhinged in their audience.
One of the chapters in my recent book "The Backlash" deals with one such case in Pittsburgh, a young employed fan of Beck -- and also of racist websites -- named Richard Poplawski who was parroting Beck-inspired theories in early 2009 about rounding up citizens into so-called "FEMA camps" and the collapse of the dollar and the food supply and the coming "Obama gun confiscation" all right before he gunned down three police officers who came to his house in a domestic dispute that April.
"Rich, like myself, loved Glenn Beck," Poplawski's best friend Eddie Perkovic told me during a long interview in his narrow rowhouse on the steep hill running down to the Allegheny. (Perkovic had a lot of time -- he was wearing an ankle bracelet for house arrest because of an unrelated case.) Perkovic and his mom -- who also had a close relationship with the accused cop-killer, still awaiting trial -- told me that for months Poplawski had been obsessed with an idea -- frequently discussed by Beck, including in ads for his sponsor Food Insurance -- of the need to stockpile food and even toilet paper for a societal breakdown. Poplawski was also convinced that paper money would become worthless -- another claim given credence by the Fox News Channel host, particularly in close connection with his frequent shilling for the now-under-investigation gold-coin peddler Goldline International.
This morning. Media Matters for America -- where I am a senior fellow -- published a powerful investigative report on another case in which irresponsible and unfounded ratings-seeking blather from Beck and other talk hosts on the right, including Alex Jones and Michael Savage, drove a man in California named Byron Williams (pictured at top) on a path toward a violent shootout with law enforcement:
At one point, I ask Byron if he thinks Fox is worthwhile.
"I'm not gonna say anyone is worthwhile," he replies. "I would have never started watching Fox News if it wasn't for the fact that Beck was on there. And it was the things that he did, it was the things he exposed that blew my mind. I said, well, nobody does this."
Throughout the interview -- and in a letter I would receive later -- Byron tells me I need to watch Beck's programs from June. He says that's where I can learn about the Soros-Obama-Petrobras conspiracy he heatedly described in our earlier conversation.
"You need to go back to June -- June of this year, 2010 -- and look at all his programs from June. And you'll see he's been breaking open some of the most hideous corruption," Byron says. "A year ago, I was watching him, and it was OK, he was all right, you know? ... But now he's getting it."
The entire report is lengthy, but it deserves a read to understand the threat of violence that comes from irresponsible trash talk out of the media megaphones underwritten by large corporations like News Corp. No one is suggesting that Beck or the others lose their all-American right to free speech, but exercising free speech at that level comes with real responsibility, and so decent society needs to hold their feet to the fire when Beck or Savage or Jones spew lies and half-truths that inspire the deranged into action. The role that half-baked, media-money-driven thought played in the murder of three Pittsburgh police officers - Eric Guy Kelley, Stephen Mayhle, and Paul Sciullo -- is already unconscionable, but encouraging one more violent loon like Rich Poplawski or Byron Williams to go off would be beyond unforgivable.
Footnote: I see that Beck is off for a few days this week undergoing medical tests for several ailments. I hope that he gets well soon. I always wish the best of health for political adversaries so they can return to the playing field of ideas -- where their dangerous ideas can be crushed.
I rather like Raoul Duke's ideas for saving government money and cutting the deficit. At least he is proposing some actual policy changes that would make a difference, rather than the empty promises of the Republican "Pledge." I don't know that Beck or other right-wing personalities actually proposed something that would make susceptible guys shoot cops, but I do think that Sarah Palin's suggestion to "reload" is intended to allude to guns. And then Sharron Angle does think there is a second-amendment way to change our government. Perhaps it was going overboard to think that George W. Bush would cancel the 2008 elections, but it was clear that he did not value constitutional safeguards, so maybe, maybe he would go that far. Actually, like most presidents, he looks better in retrospect than he did at the time.
"where their dangerous ideas can be crushed"...as the national referendum on extreme leftist policy is about to be demolished on 11/2. Hilarious. enjoy the last few weeks dumbocrats!— bv437- I don't care what Beck is saying, but it bothers me that people are stupid enough to listen. That being said, Beck is not at all to blame for this. He is about lies and money. If Beck wouldn't have been on the air, someone else would have. Lunacy is lunacy. The comments are funny though, as they can't point out a liberal who uses violent terminology like Beck does. They also take everything a man who makes millions off of their fear as gospel. The next time Beck makes a relevant point will be the first. I mean, does anyone else read The Blaze? It's like the hawk international blogs, affix socialism to the title, ignore any attempt at fact-checking, then post. For legitimate right wing news, I highly recommend reading The National Review. Anything else seems to be devoid of truth.— HandNik
- Mr. Smith: health care reform, education loan reform, mortgage reform, banking regulation reform, making sure the TARP money gets paid back, appointing judges who want to help the country, and he hasn't even had the opportunity to attempt anything else thanks to the Republicans letting the loudest minorities dictate their policies. Those all sound like policies to me. I'll wait for you to post any Republican proposals, because I have yet to see them even in conservative publications.— HandNik
Those aren't policies. Those aren't even talking points. Just childish.— Mr. Smith
Comment removed.- Lol Handnik, are you EVER going to answer my question?? What is "racist" about insisting that people coming to this country do so legally????? My parents did it, so why can't others?????— texas.troubadour
- Comment removed.
- Mr. Bunch shows more 'recklessness' and 'disregard' with this article than Glenn Beck ever has.— Phillysub
- "....decent society needs to hold their feet to the fire when Beck or Savage or Jones spew lies...." I can't believe that Bunch is advocating that our society should take liars like Beck and incinerate their feet. Barbarism I tell you!— legatus
Bunch is a "Senior Fellow" at Media Matters? 'Nuff said. It's Official. He's now completely in the bag for the Soros left.— rudytbone- Comment removed.
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