Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Things Sean Hannity Would Never Say (But Glenn Beck Is)

Posted by Jack Hunter on Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 12:56 PM

On yesterday’s drive home I listened to Sean Hannity, as I often do. Hannity was upset, as he often is, about President Obama ”weakening” American defense - scrapping missile defense shields in Europe, not escalating troop levels fast enough in Afghanistan, ignoring an Iran on the verge of getting nukes - you know, not being “conservative.” “You’re a great American!” one lady caller told Hannity.

While I’m not sure how great an American he is, Glenn Beck at least deserves credit for trying to change the conversation on the talk radio Right by getting away from unqualified support for faux patriotism and blind militarism that still so-animates men like Hannity. As of late, Beck’s even become increasingly, and more solidly, antiwar.

Beck’s radio show is not carried on the station where I work, but our competitor (we have Hannity and Mark Levin. Blah.), and I had missed a rant by Beck last week where, as one WTMA listener said to a friend, “Glenn Beck was talkin’ about war like the Southern Avenger!”

While I did not get to hear Beck’s antiwar, supposedly ”Southern-Avenger-esque” rant, Jenn Morrill at the Salt Lake City Examiner apparently did. And it’s a good’n:


On his radio show last week, he apologized to libertarians everywhere for calling himself a libertarian in the past. He has long called himself a conservative with libertarian leanings, but he said he is now leaning so far libertarian that he is almost horizontal. He said, “I’m going through a change here.”

Beck would like the time machine to take him back eighteen months. Why? To go back to when he was calling Ron Paul a “crackpot on so many issues.” Now, he laments, “Gosh. I’d like to reexamine all those issues.” Among those issues is America’s occupation of many foreign countries; Beck specifically mentions Germany, Korea, and Afghanistan. He admits that America’s imperialism has caused a lot of problems. He said, “Progressive members of the Republican party wanted to make sure that we spread sunshine, lollipops, happiness, and democracy to all around the world. That’s great. But the best way to do that is to live a righteous life and be a good example.” And he repeated what Paul has been saying for years, “Besides, we can’t afford it anymore!”

Topics: National Politics
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Comments (7)

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Beck is a hysterical fool that is enraging the right and I hope he can live with himself when one of his freakish followers does something horrible in the name of the tea baggers of America.

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Posted by Luna on September 22, 2009 at 1:52 PM

The video is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FuEWxTvRGY

Not quite as revolutionary as I hoped.

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Posted by Louis B. on September 22, 2009 at 1:57 PM

Jack you need to change your radio listening habits.

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Posted by Charlestowne on September 22, 2009 at 4:24 PM

Sean Hannity's schtick is all about marching lock step with the Republican party, and loyalty to the party at any cost. Beck, having worked for CNN, was more prone (and perhaps this is a wiser strategy) to position himself supposedly in the middle ("libertarian" he calls himself hmmm) so that whatever happens he can just say everything sucks. Beck's schtick is to constantly say the sky is falling, and even if Republicans regain power, he will still say "the sky is falling" but he will be more vague about who's fault it is. Beck may even be postulating that coming off as more anti-war might take some of the steam out of the constant barage of criticism coming from his critics on the left.

But having said that, unlike you, I don't find Hannity OR Glenn Beck to be a TRUE Conservative. See

http://jviz.blogspot.com/2009/08/retractio…

for a reasonable definition of TRUE conservatism, and a brief rundown on the glorious history of that belief system.

Having said that, unless the Republican party starts embracing the political conservatism of Ron Paul and stops following the Sean Hannitys of the world, their future is in some serious doubt.

God bless you and thank you for your support.

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Posted by jimmyfungus on September 23, 2009 at 9:32 AM

Please.....the No Party has ideals?

Since when? You mean when they were for less government intrusion into our lives???? Or when they supported listening to our phone calls & reading our e-mails?

Do you mean fiscal responsibility? Or do you mean when they ate a surplus with lies about IRAN?

Or do you mean when they represented the people's will of taking government out of your medical decisions? Or when they started spewing anti-choice rhetoric?

Do you mean the true republicans that supported Planned Parenthood like Barbara & Laura Bush or the ones that took $$$ from the moral majority and suddenly started clinging to their bibles a little tighter?

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Posted by Luna on September 23, 2009 at 10:50 AM

Luna - I can't get to that link from here (work), but I think he's talking about Conservatives, which today (to me) is a far cry from Republicans. If you look to Paul, which is probably the best example of a real Goldwater-type Conservative holding some kind of office, you'll find a man & a belief system that does not support warrantless wiretapping, fruitless invasion of other countries, federal anti-choice legislation, or ridiculous fundamentalism.

I think you'd find that Paul is personally pro-life, unlike myself, but at least he doesn't want the federal gov't making that decision for you.

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Posted by ETimmonsP on September 23, 2009 at 11:35 AM

The only true problem I have with Ron Paul is his disbelief in public education.

Other than that I have no problem with less global policing, however more than a few of his followers have not given the "party" a good face. And I for one would beg Glenn Beck to find another party to identify with, because Beck just makes anything and everything sound crazy. Not to mention grown men crying on TV does nothing for the image.

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Posted by Luna on September 23, 2009 at 11:48 AM
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