During the 2008 presidential campaign, Fox News blatherskite Glenn Beck (who at the time was with CNN) traduced Ron Paul and his supporters as potential domestic terrorists.
He later featured Dr. Paul in several interviews and treated him respectfully, going so far as to compliment him on his principled and prescient economic views — while pointedly condemning his lack of zeal for murdering Muslims. (Beck, at one point, criticized American Muslims for not lining up at recruiting offices for the chance “to shoot bad the Muslims in the head,” warning that their lack of nationalistic zeal might prompt other Americans to “round you up” and put them behind “razor wire.”)
Beck has also passionately and repeatedly endorsed torture as a “counter-terrorist” tactic.
Beck has now emerged as something of a key media cheerleader for that element of the “Tea Party” movement that discovered the evils of government profligacy, executive dictatorship, and economic fascism shortly after noon last January 20th.
A self-identified “Rodeo Clown,” Beck is often seen awash in tears, his face contorted with bravely suppressed emotion as he is rendered verklempt by his love of, and concern for, our country. Or something.
Well, to the surprise of nobody who can exercise even a particle of educated skepticism, the tears of that Rodeo Clown are as bogus as Joe Biden’s hairline.
Gawker describes Beck’s recent photo shoot for GQ magazine with photographer Jill Greenberg, whom Beck condemned last year as a leftist “nut job” who “terrorizes children.” He referred to an earlier shoot in which Greenberg, to make what she considered an artistic point of some sort, gave candy to children and then took it away and photographed their reactions.
Greenberg wanted to capture Beck’s notorious lachrymosity, and the blabbermouth — more than willing to set aside ideological and artistic scruples — eagerly complied. Greenberg gave Beck just a little bit of chemical help in order to get the “money shot.” The results are suitably dramatic, if not Oscar-worthy.
“The crying was my idea, and Glenn was cool with trying it,” according to Greenberg. “We used mentholated balm to make his eyes tear up naturally. From then on it was acting on his part. He had fun with it and was a great sport.”
Actually, Beck was eerily channelling Tom Grunick, William Hurt’s dim-witted sports reporter-turned-network anchorman in the 1987 film Broadcast News, who also had a gift for shedding real tears on-camera.
12:17 am on June 24, 2009
